Editas enters CRISPR agreement with Massachusetts General Hospital

Editas Medicine, a US genome-editing company, announced yesterday that it has entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to access CRISPR technology.

The agreement will allow Editas to access intellectual property and technology related to high-fidelity Cas9 and Cas9 PAM, advanced CRISPR genome-editing technologies.

This will further enable the company to address a range of genetically-defined diseases at the MGH.

Katrine Bosley, president of Editas Medicine, said: “This agreement with MGH marks additional progress on our strategy of building a company committed to advancing the science behind CRISPR to benefit patients facing genetically-defined diseases.”

J Keith Joung, scientific advisor at Editas Medicine, said: “I look forward to the full potential of these high-fidelity Cas9 and Cas9 PAM variants being maximised to develop safe and effective therapies for patients with a broad range of diseases.”

The CRISPR/Cas9 technology remains subject to a patent dispute between the Broad Institute, comprising the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, and the University of California, after the US Patent and Trademark Office opened interference proceedings back in March.