RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.–Yesterday, the European Patent Office (EPO) revoked previously granted claims of Cellectis’ European Patent No. EP 1485475 during an oral hearing in an opposition proceeding initiated by Precision BioSciences. As a result of the opposition, Cellectis’ previously granted claims to single-chain meganucleases, including those derived from I-CreI, were revoked in their entirety. Claims to hybrid meganucleases were cancelled or severely restricted.

“We are enormously pleased with the decision of the Opposition Division. This clears the way for Precision BioSciences and its partners to practice the DNE technology in Europe unencumbered,” said Derek Jantz, Precision BioSciences’ VP of Scientific Development.

The EPO decision restricted the claims of the patent to cover only certain hybrid meganucleases that, according to Dr. Jantz, “are not, to my knowledge, currently in commercial use.”

“Oddly, Cellectis issued a press release claiming that the EPO ‘upheld’ their patent despite the fact that they lost all of their claims to single-chain meganucleases,” said Precision BioSciences CEO Matthew Kane. “We hope all of their patents are similarly ‘upheld,’” he added.

Cellectis has the right to appeal the decision of the Opposition Division.

About Precision BioSciences

Precision’s mission is to utilize its engineered endonuclease technology to become the world leader in the field of genomic molecular biology. Precision’s proprietary Directed Nuclease EditorTM (DNE) technology enables the production of custom genome editing enzymes that can insert, remove, modify, and regulate essentially any gene in mammalian or plant cells.

Precision BioSciences has already produced hundreds of custom endonucleases for partners and internal development that can precisely alter naturally occurring sequences within genomes. Precision has successfully partnered its DNE technology with several of the world’s largest agbiotech firms and is internally developing applications in biological production and human therapeutics. For additional information, please visit www.precisionbiosciences.com.