Yet more news from the CRISPR/Cas front with the recent announcement of a joint venture between life-science powerhouse Bayer and patent-holding firm CRISPR Therapeutics AG. The joint venture will be directed towards the development of therapeutics targeting blood disorders, blindness, and congenital heart disease.

Bayer, a German chemical/pharmaceutical company, has been involved in therapeutic development since originating production of aspirin in the late 1800s. The company has developed from these early days into a global giant with a market cap of over €95 billion. Recent spin-offs and reorganisations have positioned the company as one with a hard focus on biotechnology and life science, making them an excellent match for the technological portfolio of CRISPR.

CRISPR Therapeutics AG represents the licensed intellectual property of CRISPR co-discoverer Dr Emmanuelle Charpentier (one side of the contentious CRISPR patenting dispute occurring between MIT and University of California). The IP has been hot news for the last year or so, with CRISPR Therapeutics having announced collaborations and research ventures with pharmaceutical companies such as Généthon, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and Celgene Corporation, in 2015 alone. Hot companies naturally attract significant amounts of investment, with previous Series A/B funding rounds picking up around $89 million USD in direct investment.

The total investment number jumped quite significantly with this latest announcement, with Bayer to provide the joint venture with at least $300 million USD in research funding over the next five years. Bayer also picks up a minority stake in CRISPR for a mere $35 million USD cash investment. Through the agreement, CRISPR retains a 50% ownership in any products developed in these three areas, with Bayer given the option to exclusively licence any IP relating to them. Any technology breakthroughs which fall outside the blood/blindness/cardiac triumvirate will be split according to application – uses relating to human health will be assigned to CRISPR, animal health to Bayer.

This agreement also marks the debut of the Bayer LifeScience Centre (BLSC), which has been described as a “strategic innovation unit in Bayer directly reporting to Bayer's Board of Management.” This unit appears to essentially act as a technology scouting group, identifying potentially useful partnerships with start-ups and more established companies, then moving to set up deals and joint ventures. Bayer already offered contracted technology development and identification through their Technology Services division, (renamed Engineering and Technology in a recent reorganisation), the establishment of the BLSC may indicate a shift to a more proactive approach to innovation.

The joint venture has led to some shuffling and promotion at the top, with Dr Bouchon, Head of the BSLC, now to act as the venture’s CEO, while CRISPR’s current CEO, Dr Novak, will act as the chairman of the interim board. Control of CRISPR Therapeutics will remain as before, with all investors retaining minority positions. The joint venture is expected to occur during the first quarter of 2016, with the final form being based in London with operations occurring in Cambridge. This all presupposes that the agreement passes regulatory hurdles such as merger clearance from the USA – however the small scale of the joint venture means that it is unlikely to even be noticed within the current merger mania.Details of the actual therapeutics to be developed are scarce, though further information will undoubtedly surface soon. In the meantime we’ll be expecting to hear further announcements from rival CRISPR/Cas firm Editas Medicine to follow on from their highly successful Series B round – this field is unlikely to cool down any time soon.