Forge Genetics: Cutting through the genetic engineering patent thicket.

Written by: Aonghus Topham

Edited by: Natasha Barrow & Caroline Babisz

Company: Forge Genetics

Location: Nottingham, England

Founded: 2023

Founders: Dr Chris Humphreys, Dr Craig Woods, Dr Lisa Thomas and Professor Nigel Minton

Forge Genetics management team Dr Lisa Thomas (CFO), Dr Craig Woods (CEO) and Dr Chris Humphreys (Inventor and CSO).

Innovation Summary:

Forge Genetics, a contract research company, spun out of the University of Nottingham’s Synthetic Biology Research Centre (SBRC), has developed an alternative to CRISPR-Cas9 called Forge Editing, which offers a more economical alternative to CRISPR without the convoluted legal red tape.

The company specialises in genetic engineering for research and commercial applications. Forge’s unique technology offers a novel method of creating specific genetic changes in specialised organisms used in industry. This alternative genetic engineering technology comes at a crucial time for the biotechnology industry with more and more innovative companies seeking to create Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) vital to the services they offer. 

The ‘traditional’ technology of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing which has been used in labs around the world since 2013[1, 2, 3], has inherent issues surrounding licensing and huge costs. This stems from a heated dispute between two sides, with each claiming patent rights to licence CRISPR-derived GMOs. This also comes with the added issue of inaccuracy with high off-target effects rates, causing unwanted genetic changes.

In the last decade, companies utilising CRISPR are being forced to think about the financial baggage surrounding this contested licensing. Often, in today’s industry, companies need to consider the impact of a technology, not only in terms of biological relevance, but also concerning their ease of market access and giving investors peace of mind that they can be commercially successful. 

Companies looking to get innovative biology to patients around the world need to be aware that it takes a 360-degree view of the intellectual property requirements, and in the case of CRISPR this landscape is becoming more and more convoluted, with companies scrambling to renegotiate licensing laws for GMOs to use in research and industry. Taken together, this points towards an opportunity for Forge Genetics to position themselves perfectly, to create a novel, gold-standard gene-editing technology, supporting innovation throughout the global biotechnology industry.

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History:

Forge Genetics was founded by Dr Chris Humphreys and Dr Craig Woods to commercialise Forge Editing technology after its demonstrated applications across various sectors including pharmaceuticals, biofuels, dyes, and sustainable chemicals. Since being founded late last year, Forge Genetics have signed deals with a number of commercial partners raising over £1.3 million. 

Vision and Progress:

Forge Genetics are currently looking to raise between £1-2 million over the next 6 to 12 months to go towards proving the application of Forge Editing in mammalian cells.

 The funding will also contribute to  building out their team, looking to solidify a commanding position in the genetic editing space.

References

[1] https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/11/6072 

[2] https://www.broadinstitute.org/what-broad/areas-focus/project-spotlight/crispr-timeline 

[3] https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2022.973326/full

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