MilliporeSigma Licenses CRISPR Tech to Promega

Promega said on Thursday that it has signed a license agreement for MilliporeSigma's foundational CRISPR genome editing technology.
 
Under the terms of the agreement, Promega will use the CRISPR technology to create new research products for investigating endogenous biology, including products for drug development. The company is aiming to develop tools that will allow researchers to better determine physiological levels of protein expression, providing a more accurate understanding of protein behavior.
 
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
 
"This license further expands the potential of CRISPR, and, more importantly, gives scientists a new view into natural cell activity," Promega President and CEO Bill Linton said in a statement. "This is quite a meaningful contribution to many areas of applied research in such fields as cancer and neuroscience."
 
MilliporeSigma CEO Udit Batra also noted that Promega's planned CRISPR-edited cell lines "can play a major role in determining drug efficacy, toxicity, and overall development."
 
In January, Promega said it had signed a non-exclusive licensing deal with the Broad Institute for its CRISPR-Cas9 intellectual property. Promega planned to combine the Broad's CRISPR technology with its own products for knock-in of genetic reporters into the genomes of any cell or cell line in order to develop and sell gene editing tools and reagents for interrogating endogenous biology at physiologically relevant expression levels.
 
The Broad and MilliporeSigma made their own news in July when they announced that they had developed a framework to simplify and streamline the way they offer non-exclusive licenses to the CRISPR genome editing intellectual property under their respective control.
 
Under the terms of that framework, the Broad offers licenses to its own CRISPR IP portfolio, as well as MilliporeSigma's, to potential licensees for internal research uses and for commercial research tools and kits. The framework is also designed to allow other CRISPR patent holders to participate in the future, either through this agreement or through a third-party patent pool or collaboration.