TAL-effector Nuclease: The USPTO Issues a Fourth Patent Licensed to Cellectis

Regulatory News:

Cellectis (Paris:ALCLS), the global genome engineering specialist, announces the issuance by the USPTO of a 4^th US patent (US 8,697,853) directed to TAL-effector nucleases.

On April 15, 2014, the USPTO issued a fourth patent to the University of Minnesota and the Iowa State University for the TALEN^TM technology developed by Cellectis.

This patent US 8,697,853 is more particularly drawn to the genomic sequences encoding TAL-effector nucleases. These proteins developed jointly by researchers at the University of Minnesota and Iowa State University can "read” DNA and make pinpoint cuts in targeted genes.

This fourth issued patent, like the previous ones, is part of a patent portfolio owned by the Regents of the University of Minnesota and Iowa State University Research Foundation and licensed exclusively to Cellectis as per a license agreement of January 2011.

The inventors of these patents are Pr. Daniel Voytas, from the University of Minnesota who is also acting as Chief Scientific Officer of Cellectis Plant Sciences in New Brighton (MN), Pr. Adam Bogdanove formerly of Iowa State University and currently of Cornell University, and Dr. Feng Zhang, who is now Chief Operating Officer of Cellectis Plant Sciences.

About Cellectis
Cellectis is a biopharmaceutical company focused on oncology. The company’s mission is to develop a novel generation of therapy based on engineered T cells to treat cancer. Cellectis capitalizes on its 14 years of expertise in genome engineering, based on TALEN™, meganucleases and the state-of-the-art electroporation technology Pulse Agile, to create a new generation of cancer immunotherapy for treating leukemias and solid tumors. Cellectis adoptive cancer immunotherapy for chronic and acute leukemias is based on the first allogeneic T cell chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) technology. CAR technologies are designed to target 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 uses leading genome engineering technologies to build innovative products in various fields and markets. Cellectis is listed on the NYSE Alternext market (ticker: ALCLS). To find out more about us, visit our website: www.cellectis.com.

Disclaimer
This press release and the information contained herein do not constitute an offer to sell or subscribe, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe, for shares in Cellectis in any country. This press release contains forward-looking statements that relate to the Company’s objectives based on the current expectations and assumptions of the Company’s management only and involve risk and uncertainties that could cause the Company to fail to achieve the objectives expressed by the forward-looking statements above.