-  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.

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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