Collaboration and License Agreements	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2021
Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Collaboration and License Agreements	10. Collaboration and license agreements Apellis Pharmaceuticals On June 30, 2021, the Company entered into a master research and collaboration agreement, or the Apellis Agreement, with Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or Apellis, focused on the use of certain of the Company’s base editing technology to discover new treatments for complement system-driven diseases. Under the terms of the Apellis Agreement, the Company will apply certain of its base editing technology and conduct preclinical research on up to six base editing programs that target specific genes within the complement system in various organs, including the eye, liver, and brain. Apellis will have exclusive rights to license each of the six programs (each an “Opt-In Right”) and will assume responsibility for subsequent development. The Company may elect to enter into a 50-50 U.S. co-development and co-commercialization agreement with Apellis with respect to one program licensed under the collaboration. The collaboration will be managed on an overall basis by an Alliance Steering Committee, or ASC, formed by an equal number of representatives from the Company and Apellis. As part of the collaboration, the Company will receive a total of $75.0 million in upfront and near-term milestones from Apellis, which is comprised of $50.0 million received upon signing and an additional $25.0 million payment on June 30, 2022, the one-year anniversary of the signing date of the Apellis Agreement, or the First Anniversary Payment. Following any exercise of Opt-In Right for any of the six programs, the Company will be eligible to receive development, regulatory, and sales milestones from Apellis, as well as royalty payments on sales. The collaboration has an initial term of five years and may be extended up to two years on a per year and program-by-program basis. During the collaboration term, Apellis may, subject to certain limitations, substitute a specific complement gene and/or organ for any of the initial base editing programs. Apellis may terminate the Apellis Agreement for convenience on any or all of the programs by providing prior written notice. As the $50.0 million upfront fee was not received by the Company as of June 30, 2021, the Company recorded a collaboration receivable for $50.0 million with a corresponding deferred revenue liability. The Company received the $50.0 million in July 2021. The Company will account for the Apellis Agreement under ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, or ASC 606, as it includes a customer-vendor relationship as defined under ASC 606 and meets the criteria to be considered a contract. The overall transaction price as of the inception of the contract was determined to be $75.0 million, which is composed of the upfront payment of $50.0 million and the First Anniversary Payment of $25.0 million. The Company will re-evaluate the transaction price in each reporting period. The $25.0 million for the First Anniversary Payment represents both a contract asset and a contract liability and the Company has presented these amounts net in accordance with ASC 606 guidance for contract assets and liabilities. The Company has concluded that the licenses to the base editing technology are not capable of being distinct from the other performance obligations, and as such the Company has determined that the licenses combined with the other research and development services represent performance obligations and no up-front revenue was recognized for the licenses. The Company plans to recognize revenue for each performance obligation as it is satisfied over time using an input method. As no activities under the Apellis Agreement had commenced as of June 30, 2021, the entire $50.0 million is recorded as deferred revenue and no revenue was recognized for the six months ended June 30, 2021. Prime Medicine In September 2019, the Company entered into a collaboration and license agreement, or the Prime Agreement, with Prime Medicine Inc., or Prime Medicine, to research and develop a novel gene editing technology developed by one of the Company’s founders. Under the terms of the agreement, the Company granted Prime Medicine a non-exclusive license to certain of its clustered regulatory interspaced short palindromic repeats, or CRISPR, technology (including Cas12b), delivery technology and certain other technology controlled by the Company to develop and commercialize gene editing products for the treatment of human diseases. The Company is not currently using the intellectual property licensed from Prime Medicine in any of its current programs, but it is required to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop new product candidates using the intellectual property licensed from Prime Medicine. Additionally, each party granted to the other party certain exclusive and non-exclusive licenses to certain technology developed after the effective date of the agreement and controlled by the granting party or jointly owned by the parties. Each party has an obligation to assign rights in certain technology developed under the collaboration to the other party. The Company had an obligation to issue $5.0 million in shares of its common stock to Prime Medicine, and Prime Medicine had an obligation to issue 5,000,000 shares of its common stock to the Company, should the Company elect to extend the collaboration beyond one year. In September 2020, the Company elected to continue the collaboration and, in October 2020, issued 200,307 shares of its common stock to Prime Medicine. The Company recognized $5.5 million, which represented the fair value of the common stock issued to Prime Medicine, as research and development expense during the year ended December 31, 2020. Additionally, in October 2020, the Company received 5,000,000 shares of Prime Medicine’s common stock and recognized $0.1 million as an offset to research and development expense for the year ended December 31, 2020. Additionally, the Company provided immaterial interim management and startup services to Prime Medicine through March 2021. As of June 30, 2021, the Company determined that future milestones and royalties under the Prime Agreement were not probable of recognition. Verve In April 2019, the Company entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Verve, or the Verve Agreement, to investigate gene editing strategies to modify genes associated with an increased risk of coronary diseases. Under the terms of the Verve Agreement, the Company granted Verve an exclusive license to certain base editor technology and certain delivery technology, and improvements and Verve granted Beam a non-exclusive license under certain know-how and patents controlled by Verve, an interest in joint collaboration technology and an exclusive license (except as to Verve) under certain delivery technology. As of June 30, 2021, the Company determined that milestones and royalties under the Verve Agreement were not probable of recognition.

Collaboration and License Agreements

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2021

Organization Consolidation And Presentation Of Financial Statements [Abstract]

10. Collaboration and license agreements

Apellis Pharmaceuticals

On June 30, 2021, the Company entered into a master research and collaboration agreement, or the Apellis Agreement, with Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or Apellis, focused on the use of certain of the Company’s base editing technology to discover new treatments for complement system-driven diseases. Under the terms of the Apellis Agreement, the Company will apply certain of its base editing technology and conduct preclinical research on up to six base editing programs that target specific genes within the complement system in various organs, including the eye, liver, and brain. Apellis will have exclusive rights to license each of the six programs (each an “Opt-In Right”) and will assume responsibility for subsequent development. The Company may elect to enter into a 50-50 U.S. co-development and co-commercialization agreement with Apellis with respect to one program licensed under the collaboration. The collaboration will be managed on an overall basis by an Alliance Steering Committee, or ASC, formed by an equal number of representatives from the Company and Apellis.

As part of the collaboration, the Company will receive a total of $75.0 million in upfront and near-term milestones from Apellis, which is comprised of $50.0 million received upon signing and an additional $25.0 million payment on June 30, 2022, the one-year anniversary of the signing date of the Apellis Agreement, or the First Anniversary Payment. Following any exercise of Opt-In Right for any of the six programs, the Company will be eligible to receive development, regulatory, and sales milestones from Apellis, as well as royalty payments on sales. The collaboration has an initial term of five years and may be extended up to two years on a per year and program-by-program basis. During the collaboration term, Apellis may, subject to certain limitations, substitute a specific complement gene and/or organ for any of the initial base editing programs. Apellis may terminate the Apellis Agreement for convenience on any or all of the programs by providing prior written notice.

As the $50.0 million upfront fee was not received by the Company as of June 30, 2021, the Company recorded a collaboration receivable for $50.0 million with a corresponding deferred revenue liability. The Company received the $50.0 million in July 2021.

The Company will account for the Apellis Agreement under ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, or ASC 606, as it includes a customer-vendor relationship as defined under ASC 606 and meets the criteria to be considered a contract.

The overall transaction price as of the inception of the contract was determined to be $75.0 million, which is composed of the upfront payment of $50.0 million and the First Anniversary Payment of $25.0 million. The Company will re-evaluate the transaction price in each reporting period. The $25.0 million for the First Anniversary Payment represents both a contract asset and a contract liability and the Company has presented these amounts net in accordance with ASC 606 guidance for contract assets and liabilities.

The Company has concluded that the licenses to the base editing technology are not capable of being distinct from the other performance obligations, and as such the Company has determined that the licenses combined with the other research and development services represent performance obligations and no up-front revenue was recognized for the licenses. The Company plans to recognize revenue for each performance obligation as it is satisfied over time using an input method. As no activities under the Apellis Agreement had commenced as of June 30, 2021, the entire $50.0 million is recorded as deferred revenue and no revenue was recognized for the six months ended June 30, 2021.

Prime Medicine

In September 2019, the Company entered into a collaboration and license agreement, or the Prime Agreement, with Prime Medicine Inc., or Prime Medicine, to research and develop a novel gene editing technology developed by one of the Company’s founders.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Company granted Prime Medicine a non-exclusive license to certain of its clustered regulatory interspaced short palindromic repeats, or CRISPR, technology (including Cas12b), delivery technology and certain other technology controlled by the Company to develop and commercialize gene editing products for the treatment of human diseases. The Company is not currently using the intellectual property licensed from Prime Medicine in any of its current programs, but it is required to use commercially reasonable efforts to develop new product candidates using the intellectual property licensed from Prime Medicine. Additionally, each party granted to the other party certain exclusive and non-exclusive licenses to certain technology developed after the effective date of the agreement and controlled by the granting party or jointly owned by the parties. Each party has an obligation to assign rights in certain technology developed under the collaboration to the other party.

The Company had an obligation to issue $5.0 million in shares of its common stock to Prime Medicine, and Prime Medicine had an obligation to issue 5,000,000 shares of its common stock to the Company, should the Company elect to extend the collaboration beyond one year. In September 2020, the Company elected to continue the collaboration and, in October 2020, issued 200,307 shares of its common stock to Prime Medicine. The Company recognized $5.5 million, which represented the fair value of the common stock issued to Prime Medicine, as research and development expense during the year ended December 31, 2020. Additionally, in October 2020, the Company received 5,000,000 shares of Prime Medicine’s common stock and recognized $0.1 million as an offset to research and development expense for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Additionally, the Company provided immaterial interim management and startup services to Prime Medicine through March 2021.

As of June 30, 2021, the Company determined that future milestones and royalties under the Prime Agreement were not probable of recognition.

Verve

In April 2019, the Company entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Verve, or the Verve Agreement, to investigate gene editing strategies to modify genes associated with an increased risk of coronary diseases. Under the terms of the Verve Agreement, the Company granted Verve an exclusive license to certain base editor technology and certain delivery technology, and improvements and Verve granted Beam a non-exclusive license under certain know-how and patents controlled by Verve, an interest in joint collaboration technology and an exclusive license (except as to Verve) under certain delivery technology.

As of June 30, 2021, the Company determined that milestones and royalties under the Verve Agreement were not probable of recognition.