April 4 Quick Takes: University of California continues CRISPR IP fight

The University of California isn’t giving up the fight for one of the most critical patent claims in determining freedom to operate in CRISPR-Cas9 therapies. The party appealed to the Federal Circuit a February decision by the U.S. Patent and Trials Appeals Board that determined the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard has priority over the University of California with respect to the central claim in the ongoing patent dispute — using CRISPR-Cas9 with a single guide RNA to edit eukaryotic cells.

Editing eukaryotic cells is the core application of the technology for almost every CRISPR-Cas9 therapy, and the decision put companies with rights to Broad Institute IP including Editas Medicine Inc. (NASDAQ:EDIT) in a dominant position for IP negotiations over companies with rights to UC IP, which includes Intellia Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:NTLA) and CRISPR Therapeutics AG (NASDAQ:CRSP). ...