DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ERS Genomics announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier, ERS Genomics’ co-founder, together with the University of California and University of Vienna, their first U.S. patent with claims covering the use of CRISPR/Cas9 technology for gene editing. The patent covers the use of an optimized guide RNA format in all environments including human cells. The USPTO deemed the claims in this patent unrelated to the ongoing interference appeal between the Charpentier/UC/Vienna group and the Broad Institute/MIT/Harvard group.
“We are very pleased to finally see the first of what we expect to be many more U.S. patents issued from the seminal discoveries of Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna and their research teams. The USPTO deemed the claims allowable despite efforts by lawyers representing the Broad Institute to block the issuance of the patent, leading to today’s formal grant,” commented Eric Rhodes, CEO of ERS Genomics.
“Since we have been waiting quite some time for our patents to issue in the United States, it is gratifying to see the formal rights be granted to apply this promising technology for the benefit of health and medicine,” commented Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier, one of the principal inventors on the patent.
“There seems to be popular recognition within the scientific community of the ground-breaking nature of the Charpentier/Doudna discovery, but it has been somewhat frustrating to have waited so long to see that being translated into appropriate patent recognition in the U.S.,” continued Rhodes. “Despite having filed more than six months later than Drs. Charpentier and Doudna, the Broad Institute had their patents issued early because they paid special fees to have their patent review expedited. This has led to further confusion among those groups looking to secure appropriate license to use the technology.”
The CRISPR/Cas9 patent has been filed broadly throughout the world and has already been granted in over 45 countries, including throughout the EU, Japan and in China.
About ERS Genomics
ERS Genomics was formed to provide broad
access to the foundational CRISPR-Cas9 intellectual property held by Dr.
Emmanuelle Charpentier. Non-exclusive licenses are available for
research and sale of products and services across multiple fields
including: research tools, kits, reagents; discovery of novel targets
for therapeutic intervention; cell lines for discovery and screening of
novel drug candidates; GMP production of healthcare products; livestock;
production of industrial materials such as enzymes, biofuels and
chemicals; and synthetic biology. For additional information please
visit www.ersgenomics.com.
