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ERS Genomics Licenses CRISPR/Cas9 to Evolva for Industrial Applications

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – ERS Genomics, a CRISPR/Cas9 commercialization vehicle, has licensed the genome editing technology to Swiss industrial biotech firm Evolva. Under the terms of the worldwide, non-exclusive licensing agreement, Evolva has the right to use the technology in engineering yeast and fungi for biomanufacturing purposes.

"Genome editing has many applications beyond drug discovery and development and making the CRISPR/Cas9 patents available to industrial biotechnology leaders such as Evolva is a growing and important part of our business," ERS Genomics CEO Eric Rhodes said in a statement.

Evolva combines modern biotech with traditional brewing techniques to make ingredients like the alternative sweetener stevia, the citrusy organic compound nootkatone, and alleged anti-aging compound resveratrol.

"Evolva uses proprietary technologies and is committed to gain access to complementary platforms that allow us to enhance the properties of the ingredients we produce, as well as their economics," Evolva CEO Neil Goldsmith said in a statement.
Financial and other details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Emmanuelle Charpentier of the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology co-founded the privately-held, Dublin-based ERS Genomics with financier Shaun Foy in 2014 to commercialize patent rights she holds as an inventor on the CRISPR patents at the center of an intellectual property spat in the US. The firm has also licensed CRISPR/Cas9 technology to Horizon Discovery, Bayer, and Regeneron.

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