Page 62 - Breeding Edge ebook

For its part, the Broad Institute said the EPO’s decision was based “on a technical formality” and “the
decision does not involve the actual scientific merits of the CRISPR patent application.”

“The Broad Institute will appeal the decision to EPO’s Technical Board of Appeal, which is expected to
use this case as an opportunity to review and resolve this international inconsistency, not just for
CRISPR patents, but for a wider range of European patents and applications that originated as U.S.
provisional applications.”

Little wonder then that U.S. agribusinesses are keeping a foot in more
than one camp, trying to make sure that innovations and licensing
opportunities can continue in as many laboratories as possible.

For example, DuPont Pioneer and the Broad Institute of MIT/Harvard
reached an agreement to jointly provide non-exclusive licenses to
foundational CRISPR-Cas9 intellectual property under their respective
control for use in ag research and product development at universities
and nonprofit organizations for academic research.

"The promise of CRISPR-Cas9 technology in the hands of many Neal Gutterson, DuPont Pioneer
will result in a wide array of benefits for the global food supply,
ranging from higher and more stable yields of grains, fruits and
vegetables for farmers; more nutritious, healthier and affordable
foods for consumers; and improved sustainability of agricultural
systems for society," said Neil Gutterson, vice president of
Research and Development at DuPont Pioneer.

Other major agribusinesses are taking similar approaches, with
multiple licensing agreements and investments in precision breeding.

Early in 2017, Monsanto Company announced that it had reached a new global licensing agreement with
the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard for the use of the novel CRISPR-Cpf1 genome-editing
technology in agriculture.

“This system has potential to be a “simpler and more precise tool for making targeted improvements in a
cell's DNA when compared to the CRISPR-Cas9 system,” the company said in a release. “In addition,
the smaller size of the CRISPR-Cpf1 system provides researchers with more flexibility to use the
genome-editing technology across multiple crops.”

“Gene editing actually covers a range of technologies that can be used to make precise targeted
modifications of genes in the genome,” explains Dr. Larry Gilbertson, a molecular biologist with
Monsanto. “We believe that to be successful in this area it will require a combination of
technologies and tools and our licensing strategy reflects that.”

Other recent Monsanto investments and joint agreements include:

• A non-exclusive global option and licensing agreement on Dow AgroSciences’ EXZACT
Precision Technology. The EXZACT technology, which Dow AgroSciences has developed
under an exclusive license and collaboration agreement in plants with Sangamo BioSciences
Inc., (now Sangamo Therapeutics Inc.) facilitating the creation of crop varieties and lines having
improved traits. An agreement with Nomad Bioscience GmbH, based in Munich, Germany,

60 www.Agri-Pulse.com