This nuclease, developed by AstraZeneca will be paired with Synthego’s gRNA to enable improved health outcomes, the companies state. 

Under the terms of the agreement, Synthego also receives exclusive commercialization rights including the right to sublicense this nuclease for therapeutic and commercial use.

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Breaking new ground: CRISPR

The applications of Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPRs) have multiplied since it was first discovered more than 30 years ago – and researchers see no end to the possibilities. 


“By enhancing our CRISPR expertise with AstraZeneca’s novel nuclease, we are poised to expedite the development of transformative therapies, paving a streamlined and accelerated path to clinical advancement,” says Craig Christianson, CEO of Synthego.

“We are excited to offer significantly lower upfront fees for rights to a leading CRISPR enzyme enabling therapeutic developers to de-risk their fundraising process, and making overall development costs significantly less than with traditional nucleases,” he adds.