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4 June 2019Genetics

Danish biotech company secures CRISPR licence

Danish research company Bioneer has secured a non-exclusive licence to CRISPR/Cas9 technology owned by French geneticist Emmanuelle Charpentier.

ERS Genomics, the Dublin-based company which represents Charpentier’s rights to the genome editing technology, made in the announcement in a press release issued today, June 4.

Bioneer will seek to use the technology to advance preclinical disease modelling.

Under the terms of the licensing deal, Bioneer will be able to generate and commercialise cell based models edited with CRISPR/Cas9, the release said.

Eric Rhodes, ERS Genomics CEO, said that the Danish company had “proven expertise in a broad array of biomedical fields” and said he was “very pleased” that Bioneer had secured the licence.

“Adding CRISPR/Cas9 to their toolbox ensures they remain on the leading edge of technology,” Rhodes said.

Lars Pedersen, Bioneer CEO, said that the “cutting-edge” CRISPR/Cas9 technology would complement Bioneer’s competences in advanced preclinical disease modelling”.

Bioneer CSO Christian Clausen added: “The CRISPR/Cas9 tools will enable clients and collaborators to precisely tailor their preclinical modelling strategies to their specific needs for predictive in vitro models.”

The companies did not disclose the financial details of the licensing agreement.

In April, LSIPR  reported that ERS Genomics had secured a new US patent for the use of CRISPR/Cas9 in a single guide format.

Charpentier’s latest CRISPR patent “uses in any cellular or non-cellular environment and delivery of the CRISPR/Cas9 components by any methods”, the company said.

Securing the patent marked a victory for ERS Genomics in its efforts to acquire rights to the technology amid competition from the Broad Institute, an affiliate of Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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More on this story

Americas
23 April 2019   ERS Genomics has announced a new CRISPR/Cas9 US patent for use of the gene-editing technology in a single guide format.
Biotechnology
14 December 2018   ERS Genomics has signed a deal with Swiss company Lonza Pharma & Biotech to provide access to CRISPR/Cas9 technology.

More on this story

Americas
23 April 2019   ERS Genomics has announced a new CRISPR/Cas9 US patent for use of the gene-editing technology in a single guide format.
Biotechnology
14 December 2018   ERS Genomics has signed a deal with Swiss company Lonza Pharma & Biotech to provide access to CRISPR/Cas9 technology.