The agreement covers the creation and sale of rodent animal models, the sale of existing rodent animal models and sublicensing rights

Cellectis (Alternext: ALCLS), the genome engineering specialist, and genOway (Alternext: ALGEN), the animal model specialist, today announce an exclusive agreement under which genOway becomes the exclusive provider of Cellectis’ homologous recombination technology for research applications in genetically modified rodents.Cellectis will remain the partner for any other applications, such as bioproduction and therapeutics. Financial details were not disclosed.

genOway is recognized by the industry as the leader in high-value research models for candidate drug evaluation. Over the past few years, genOway has developed the most advanced methods for generating innovative approaches, which combine exclusive technologies ? Internal Ribosome Entry Site (IRES), Recombinase Mediated Cassette Exchange (RMCE), Tetracycline, etc, with proprietary technologies (QuickKin, 2in1, etc), proprietary software and expertise.
 
This technology is covered by the WO 90/11354 family of patents owned by Institut Pasteur and exclusively licensed to Cellectis. This generation of high-value genetically modified rodent models, including humanized models, is a major breakthrough. Cellectis’ technology is ranked as the primary tool in genetically modified rodent development by both academic and industrial scientists. Previously, Cellectis was the only source of rights in homologous recombination technology. The solutions genOway now offers respond fully to the needs of the industrial and academic institutions that require a single access to key technologies.
 
“We are very happy with this exclusive partnership with Cellectis. Both teams have worked intensively on this agreement, taking market needs into account. This complete and exclusive agreement is the solution the market has been waiting for,” said Alexandre Fraichard, genOway CEO. “Access to this technology enables us to complete our portfolio of exclusive technologies and solutions and to guarantee our customers that we’ll provide them with a research model which exactly fits their needs.”
 
“Other transgenic companies and internal facilities only provide them with a model they can develop,” added Alexandre Fraichard. “We are the only transgenic company providing a guaranteed freedom to operate. It is essential for industrial researchers, and increasingly for leading academic centers, to guarantee that they have the freedom to use their models. This is the only way to secure their future rights to results. By providing both the technologies and the freedom to operate, genOway has become the only relevant partner for rodent models.”
 
“The collaboration between genOway and Cellectis fits within our mission to enable scientists to access our technologies,” said Andre Choulika, Cellectis’ chairman and CEO. “This new agreement with genOway is a major step forward in our strategy. genOway is the best exclusive partner for the research rodent model arena. The company’s focus is on allogeneic cancer immunotherapy using TALEN(TM) engineered T-Cell together with Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) for liquid tumors.”

This agreement will enable genOway to exclusively provide academic and industry scientists with complete secure access to Cellectis’ homologous recombination technology for use in rodent models. 

• Exclusive service provider: genOway will develop and sell research models using homologous recombination technology. Customers of genOway will have complete freedom to operate for their research programs including pharmaceutical research. 

• Exclusive distributor: Thousands of research models have been developed using homologous recombination technology and are available in either laboratories or repositories. genOway plans to enable scientists to access these resources with the necessary rights. 

• Exclusive sublicensing rights: A significant proportion of scientists are using models developed using homologous recombination technology with no rights to do so; either because the models were created by in-house facilities or because they were purchased from transgenic companies that had no rights to transfer freedom to operate to the end-user. genOway will now license the required freedom to operate (for past and/or future use) to the end-users. genOway and Cellectis are strongly committed to enabling scientists to benefit from this technology and to prohibiting unauthorized use.

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About Cellectis

Cellectis is a biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology. The company’s mission is to develop a novel generation of therapy based on allogeneic T-cell to treat cancer. Cellectis capitalizes on its 14 years of expertise in genome engineering -based on TALEN(TM), meganuclease, and the state-of-the-art electroporation technology Pulsagile- to create the fourth generation of cancer immunotherapy to treat leukemia and solid tumors. Cellectis adoptive cancer immunotherapy to cure chronic and acute leukemias is based on the first allogeneic T-cell Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) technology. CAR technologies are designed to target cell surface antigens expressed on cells. These treatments reduce toxicities associated with current chemotherapeutics and have the potential for curative therapy. The Cellectis Group is focused on life sciences and use leading genome engineering technologies to build innovative products in various fields and markets. Cellectis is listed on the NYSE Alternext market (ticker: ALCLS).

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About genOway
genOway (ALTERNEXT-NYSE: ALGEN) is a biotechnology company developing genetically modified and high value-added research models for the bio-pharmaceutical, chemical, agrochemical and food industries as well as for academic research. With highly qualified scientific personnel, the company has a workforce of 95 people and operates in 28 countries in Europe, Asia and North America, supplying more than 275 customers. It is a market leader in terms of both size and customer portfolios. The company’s development is founded upon both a broad and exclusive technology platform as well as strong intellectual property rights combining patents and licensing agreements. Taking advantage of the global trend towards outsourcing the production of genetically modified research models, genOway has signed contracts with leaders of the pharmaceutical industry (Janssen R&D, GSK, Pfizer, etc.), and with prestigious academic research centers (King’s College and the University of Manchester, in England; Harvard, Caltech and the National Institutes of Health, in the United States; the Institut Pasteur, in France; NGFN and the Max Planck Institutes, in Germany, etc.).

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