Integra Therapeutics to exploit CIC nanoGUNE’s CRISPR-Cas technology
CIC nanoGUNE has concluded a licensing agreement with Integra Therapeutics, a leading biotech company in next-generation gene writing, which entails the transfer of the exclusive operating rights of a technology that is the intellectual property of nanoGUNE. This particular license will allow ancestral CRISPR-Cas technology, which according to early research is more versatile than the currently existing variants, to be exploited.
CRISPR-Cas technology currently enables pieces of genetic material to be cut and pasted into any cell, so that it can be used to edit DNA. In actual fact, the technology patented by nanoGUNE protects this cutting method with ancestral CAS enzymes dating back 2.6 billion years and synthesized using a computer reconstruction of CRISPR sequences from the past. Integra Therapeutics is now in possession of the exclusive rights to exploit the technology, in other words, to use it in various cutting methods and applications.
The results of the research project relating to the resurrection of CRISPR-Cas ancestry were published recently in the prestigious scientific journal Nature Microbiology. The study, led by Ikerbasque research fellow Raul Pérez-Jimenez of nanoGUNE and involving researchers from several national and international centers, suggests that the rebuilt systems not only work, but are more versatile than current versions and could have revolutionary applications in medicine. It has thus been possible to demonstrate that these ancestral enzymes are opening up new avenues in DNA manipulation and in the treatment of diseases, such as genetic diseases or cancer, or even as a tool for diagnosing diseases.
“The agreement with Integra is an important milestone in the process to transfer a technology developed in our laboratories and which is now going to be implemented and exploited by a spanish company which, in turn, has significant foreign investment, thus creating an international reference not only in science but also in the exploitation process in an area as disruptive as gene editing,” said Ainara Garcia-Gallastegui, head of Technology Transfer at nanoGUNE.