By Donald Zuhn --
Earlier this month, Cellectis SA, based in Romainville Cedex, France, announced that it had reached an agreement with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., of Tarrytown, NY, concerning the use of the French biotech company's homologous recombination patent estate. Under the agreement, Regeneron would pay the French biotech company $12.45 million for the use the Cellectis patents. Cellectis noted that the agreement resolved a more than four-year-old dispute regarding a licensing agreement the companies entered into in December 2003. According to Cellectis' press release, the dispute concerned the interpretation of the 2003 agreement, which encompassed patents and patent applications directed to a process for the specific replacement of genes by homologous recombination.
In addition to the $12.45 million payment, Regeneron will also pay Cellectis "a low single-digit royalty" based on revenue received by Regeneron from future licenses or sales of its VelociGene® or VelocImmune® products and services. Under the terms of the agreement, Regeneron will not have to pay royalties with respect to its prior licensing deals with AstraZeneca UK Ltd., Astellas Pharma Inc., and sanofi-aventis, or its commercial sales of antibodies based on Regeneron's VelocImmune technology. Finally, the agreement between Cellectis and Regeneron calls for Regeneron to purchase of 368,301 ordinary shares of Cellectis stock.
For additional information regarding the agreement, please see:
• A report on the agreement by The Business Review
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