Patent office cements priority for Crispr gene editing in cells
Nobel laureates’ failed challenge means companies may need extra patent licenses
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has potentially wrested control of the Crispr-Cas9 gene editing technology’s use in people away from the scientists best known for inventing it. Emmanuelle Charpentier from the Max Planck Institute of Infection Biology in Berlin, Germany, and Jennifer Doudna at University of California, Berkeley, US, lost out in a decision on 28 February 2022. As such, the companies closest to commercialising Crispr-Cas9 gene editing in treating disease now face the prospect of needing further, potentially expensive, patent licences.