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ERS Genomics Licenses CRISPR-Cas9 Patents to Crown Bioscience

NEW YORK — Contract research organization Crown Biosciences has taken a nonexclusive, worldwide license to ERS Genomics' CRISPR-Cas9 intellectual property, the companies said on Thursday.

San Diego-based Crown said it will use the IP to expand its gene-editing capabilities and explore the use of CRISPR-Cas9 in 3D patient-derived tumor organoid models. The licensing agreement also gives it the right to develop additional preclinical tools in 3D for higher throughput screens, with the option to add matched in vivo models downstream for translational studies.

Financial and other terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Dublin-based ERS was founded to provide access to CRISPR-Cas9 patents held by Emmanuelle Charpentier. The IP is shared with Jennifer Doudna and the University of California, as well as with the University of Vienna. Last week, ERS granted a nonexclusive license to Cosmo Bio.

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