Ruling on CRISPR Patent Complicates Research Efforts of Biotech Companies and UC California

This week the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board issued a decision regarding a patent dispute about who the first scientists were to invent the use of CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing in eukaryotic cells. 

The dispute is between a group known as the CVC, consisting of the University of California, the University of Vienna and researcher Emmanuelle Charpentier, and a group called Broad, that consists of the Broad Institute, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

The decision from PTAB states that Broad scientists were the first to invent the use of CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing in eukaryotic cells and as a result the CVC patent applications involved in the interference were not granted.

The University of California, Berkeley issued a recent statement that “PTAB made a number of errors.” 

One of main errors, according to the statement from UC-Berkeley, is that the CVC has more than 40 U.S. patents issued that were not involved in the interference, but which still cover various guide formats of the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing systems with applications in all environments, including eukaryotic cells.

The decision regarding the patents is not yet final, as an appeal could still be made to the federal circuit court. 

Editas Medicine, who has exclusively licensed the patents at issue that are now owned by Broad, issued a statement in support of the ruling from PTAB, as it will allow them to use the foundational intellectual property to continue to develop life-changing medicines for serious diseases.

Editas is currently using the technology in a program known at EDIT-101 to develop treatments for a rare genetic form of blindness. 

Following the patent decision this week, Editas shares increased over 10%. Meanwhile other gene editing companies saw their shares drop nearly 17%. 

Alexa can be reached at [email protected]