On June 6, 2019, Exonics Therapeutics, Inc., a company focused on creating transformative gene editing therapies to repair mutations that cause neuromuscular diseases, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. under which Vertex will acquire Exonics for an upfront payment of $245 million, with potential for additional milestone payments. The acquisition closed in July 2019. The combination of Exonics’ research and gene editing capabilities with Vertex’s rare disease development and commercialization expertise will advance efforts to potentially develop transformative gene editing therapies for Duchenne, Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 and other severe neuromuscular diseases.

Gary Schall, Joseph Conahan and Douglas Edwards led the WilmerHale team representing Exonics, along with Douglas Burton, Barry Hurewitz, Belinda Juran, Scott Kilgore, Bruce Manheim, Julie Hogan Rodgers, Hartmut Schneider, Kimberly Wethly, Will Myer, Erin Garrity, Lauren Ige, Ben Kelsey, David Gold, Ariel Soiffer and Edward Sharon.