Sangamo BioSciences Announces Notice Of Allowance For New Patent Application Covering Genome Modification Technology

Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. SGMO announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a Notice of Allowance for the U.S. patent application (US 20110301073) entitled "Novel DNA-binding Proteins and Uses Thereof." The claims cover core architectural aspects of engineered Transcription Activator-Like Effectors, or TALEs, which enable these proteins to be useful in potential therapeutic applications of genome editing or gene regulation and for the efficient use of the technology in biomedical research and plant applications. "The novel architectures detailed in the issuing claims are intrinsic to the efficiency and general utility of the TALE platform and we expect them to be broadly adopted and become the industry standard," stated Philip Gregory D. Phil., Sangamo's vice president of research and chief scientific officer. "When used with Sangamo's proprietary engineered FokI nucleases, or DNA cutting domains, this technology can be harnessed to efficiently and precisely edit gene sequences. The ability to modify the genome of plants and animals has already transformed cell biology and holds promise for the development of new medicines and agricultural products." Sangamo's research in this field, initially published in a paper entitled "A TALE Nuclease Architecture for Efficient Genome Editing" (Miller et al. Nature Biotechnology 2011 Feb; 29 (2):143-8), led to the filing of this patent application. "Sangamo is a pioneer in the field of genome modification and is developing our proprietary zinc finger DNA-binding (ZFP) technology for therapeutic applications in HIV/AIDS and the treatment of monogenic diseases," said Edward Lanphier, Sangamo's president and CEO. "We are very pleased that the U.S. Patent Office has acknowledged these new claims which expand and reinforce our dominance of this field from both a scientific and intellectual property perspective." About Sangamo Sangamo BioSciences, Inc. is focused on research and development of novel DNA-binding proteins for therapeutic gene regulation and genome editing. The Company has ongoing Phase 2 and Phase 1/2 clinical trials to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a novel ZFP Therapeutic® for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. Sangamo's other therapeutic programs are focused on monogenic diseases, including hemophilia, Huntington's disease and hemoglobinopathies such as beta-thalassemia and sickle cell anemia. Sangamo's core competencies enable the engineering of a class of DNA-binding proteins known as zinc finger DNA-binding proteins (ZFPs). Engineering of ZFPs that recognize a specific DNA sequence enables the creation of sequence-specific ZFP Nucleases (ZFNs) for gene modification and ZFP transcription factors (ZFP TFs) that can control gene expression and, consequently, cell function. Sangamo has entered into a strategic collaboration with Shire AG to develop therapeutics for hemophilia, Huntington's disease and other monogenic diseases and has established strategic partnerships with companies in non-therapeutic applications of its technology including Dow AgroSciences and Sigma-Aldrich Corporation. For more information about Sangamo, visit the company's website at www.sangamo.com.