John Evans

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@john_evans3

CEO, Beam Therapeutics. We are working on creating precision genetic medicines using base editing. (tweets are my own)

beamtx.com Joined February 2012

223 Following 8.3K Followers 3.8K Posts

Latest posts 5

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John Evans @john_evans3 Oct 27

Excited to share full data for BEAM-301 in GSD1a, covering the first two dose cohorts

** Importantly, 2/3 patients at the 2nd dose level achieved maximum fasting duration and no longer require corn starch supplementation after a single dose of BEAM-301
globenewswire.com/news-release/2…

www.globenewswire.com Beam Therapeutics Reports Initial Clinical Data from Phase 1/2 Trial of BEAM-301, Demonstrating... In the 40 mg Cohort, Two Patients Achieved 15 Hours of Controlled Fasting, Improvements in Glucose Control and No Longer Required Starch Supplementation...

John Evans @john_evans3 2d

Our industry is the best industry

Adu Verified account @plainyogurt21 3d

>be postdoc
>2012 in Cambridge
>join Warp Drive Bio
>plan to mine bacterial genomes
>find macrocycles
>what is a macrocycle
>RAS is undruggable
>everyone says so
>surface is a Death Star
>smooth no pockets
>picomolar grip on GTP
>whole field races the OFF state
>bossman crazy
>says hit the ON state
>the active one
>soil bug makes sanglifehrin
>CypA just sitting in the cell
>free chaperone?
>what if we glue it?
>macrocycle binds CypA
>new surface grabs RAS
>only the GTP bound state
>it clamps
>signal dies
>pure three way complex
>years of wet lab work
>first compound is garbage
>micromolar
>aim only at conserved residues
>swap phenyl for thiazole
>better CypA contact
>potency jumps
>no bioavailability
>unfixable half life
>fix it anyway
>chop the right side to a cyclopropyl
>stick a methylpiperazine on the left
>affinity explodes
>811 daltons
>big chungus
>breaks all rules
>should not be oral
>it is oral
>2018 buyout
>molecule becomes RMC-6236
>early data looks promising
>vp writes the blog post
>doesn't get it
>2023 need cash for phase 3
>EQRx dying with 1.1B in the bank
>buy the company for the cash
>sent CRO our structures to make
>they like
>they steal
>joyo to erasca
>where compound 4a
>comes back as ERAS-0015
>RASolute 302 reads out
>13.2 months
>double chemo SoC
>ASCO plenary
>1 min standing ovation
>presenter angry face
>senator on expanded access
>calls it a miracle drug
>press goes wild
>rash nbd
>dying is worse
>approval August 2026 easy
>198 million in five weeks
>mfw a macrocycle, from a dead startup, funded by a dead company, generational drug
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John Evans @john_evans3 Nov 1

Highly recommended, and not just because John is a board member!

Any student of the biotech industry should grab this one:

John Maraganore 🇺🇸🇬🇷🇺🇦 Verified account @JMaraganore Oct 31

Heads up that “The Importance of Being Unreasonable; Building a Company at the Frontiers of Science and Medicine” is now available for pre-order at Amazon.

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John Evans @john_evans3 Oct 28

Exciting updates on gene editing support from the U.S. Government!

We didn’t plan this… but just a few hours after our conference call outlining Beam’s vision to deliver increasingly customized genetic correction therapies to patients, even more news hit

John Evans @john_evans3 Oct 21

Wonderful in-depth story here from Bloomberg @business about Beam’s efforts to provide a one-time genetic correction for Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency (BEAM-302)

Amazingly, author Gary Sernovitz is himself an Alpha-1 patient, who is learning about this genetic disease and the emerging options in development to treat it

I really enjoyed getting to know Gary, who brought so much curiosity and perspective to researching this story

His inspiring conclusion, finding himself recently diagnosed with a genetic condition that now sits at the frontier of a new kind of medicine:

“I find myself in a cohort who worry about our liver and lungs… and who are the ideal pioneers for a mind-boggling medical advance. I suspect many are like me, eager to put our body to the test and accept our unasked-for role in the history of gene editing. We have good luck in our bad luck.”

(subscription required)

bloomberg.com/news/features/…

www.bloomberg.com A New Hope for Gene Editing Creating viable permanent cures for genetic disease has proved challenging, but some promising treatments are coming.