Californian biotech company Sangamo BioSciences has agreed to provide Genentech with its gene-altering technology in a research and licensing agreement.
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Under the terms of the agreement, Sangamo will provide Genentech with access to the company's proprietary zinc finger DNA-binding protein (ZFP) technology. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Edward Lanphier, Sangamo's president and CEO, said: “We are very pleased to be able to provide Genentech, a leader in the discovery, development, commercialization and manufacturing of biotherapeutics, with a non-exclusive, research and commercial license to certain aspects of our ZFP technology.”
ZFPs are the dominant class of naturally occurring transcription factors in organisms from yeast to humans. Transcription factors, which are found in the nucleus of every cell, bind to DNA to regulate gene expression. Though there are many kinds of transcription factors, only ZFPs are amenable to engineering and precise targeting to a particular gene or genes of interest.