PR83975

DARMSTADT, Germany, May 12, 2020 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

-  Technology provides more tools to fight difficult-to-treat diseases

-  Life Science business actively licensing its CRISPR-Cas9 technology for

therapeutic and other uses

-  Committed to ethical use of genome-editing technology

Merck, a leading science and technology company, today announced that two of

its CRISPR-Cas9-assisted genome-editing patents have been allowed in the United

States. These allowances provide Merck with the opportunity to support U.S.

scientists and researchers in their work to advance and protect gene therapy

development programs. The company is in active discussions to license its

foundational technology for therapeutic and other uses and is seeking

collaboration partners for research and product development.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1165781/CRISPRimage2020.jpg

"This is important news for researchers, as CRISPR-based DNA cleavage and

integration are fundamental for many genome-editing applications and can be

used to develop personalized therapies," said Udit Batra, member of the Merck

Executive Board and CEO, Life Science. "As a leading innovator of CRISPR

technology, we will license this technology to ensure that the full potential

of this powerful tool is realized, responsibly and ethically, throughout the

scientific community. We look forward to continuing our work with academic and

industrial partners to bring the best of our collective innovations to fight

the toughest diseases and improve human health."

These latest allowances cover Merck's CRISPR-Cas9 cleavage and integration

technology, which  allows researchers to replace a disease-associated mutation

with a beneficial or functional sequence, or delete such a mutation, commonly

referred to as "knock in" and "knock out," critical methods for the creation of

disease models and development of gene therapy.

These grants mark the 25th and 26th CRISPR patents worldwide belonging to Merck

and the third and fourth in the U.S. The company has CRISPR patents granted in

Australia, Canada, China, Europe, Israel, Singapore and South Korea with

related patent filings in Brazil, India and Japan.

CRISPR technology is a core competency for Merck, which has 16 years'

experience with genome editing, spanning discovery to manufacturing. The

company develops technologies in a range of genome-editing applications,

including gene knockout, gene integration and CRISPR libraries for genetic

screens. Merck received its first U.S. patent in February 2019 for its

proxy-CRISPR technology, which makes genome editing more efficient, flexible

and specific.

Merck considers that now is the time for the key CRISPR intellectual property

stakeholders to come together to simplify technology access for companies

conducting CRISPR-based research via patent pooling agreements. Merck and The

Broad Institute announced their collaboration agreement for CRISPR patent

licensing in July 2019.

The company recognizes that genome editing has resulted in major advancements

in biological research and medicine. At the same time, the growing potential of

genome-editing technologies has led to scientific, legal and societal concerns.

Merck supports research with genome editing under careful consideration of

ethical and legal standards. Merck has established an independent, external

Bioethics Advisory Panel (

https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2798997-2&h=3267657807&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.merckgroup.com%2Fen%2Fcr-report%2F2019%2Fbusiness-ethics%2Fbioethics.html&a=Bioethics+Advisory+Panel

) to provide guidance for research in which its businesses are involved,

including research on or using genome editing and has developed, defined and

transparently published a clear Genome-Editing Technology Principle (

https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2798997-2&h=3308145737&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.merckgroup.com%2Fcompany%2Fresponsibility%2Fen%2Fregulations-and-guidelines%2Fgenome-editing-principle-EN.pdf&a=Genome-Editing+Technology+Principle

) taking into account scientific and societal issues to inform promising

therapeutic approaches for use in research applications.

All Merck news releases are distributed by email at the same time they become

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About Merck

Merck, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare,

life science and performance materials. Around 57,000 employees work to make a

positive difference to millions of people's lives every day by creating more

joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene editing technologies

and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling

the intelligence of devices – the company is everywhere. In 2019, Merck

generated sales of €16.2 billion in 66 countries.

Scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to

Merck's technological and scientific advances. This is how Merck has thrived

since its founding in 1668. The founding family remains the majority owner of

the publicly listed company. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name

and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the

business sectors of Merck operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma

in life science and EMD Performance Materials.

SOURCE: Merck

CONTACT: Andreas.cezanne@merckgroup.com , Phone: +49 151 1454 2702