Sterne Kessler Client Wins 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for CRISPR-Cas9 Technology

Washington D.C. (October 8, 2020) – Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox congratulates Jennifer A. Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier on receiving the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for the development of a method for genome editing.” The firm works with Doudna, Charpentier, and the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley) team on patent matters related to their groundbreaking CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology.

Specifically, Director Eldora L. Ellison, Ph.D. serves as lead patent strategist for the UC Berkeley CRISPR-Cas9 team. Regarding the award, she remarked, “The Sterne Kessler team and I are honored to work with Jennifer A. Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier on this groundbreaking technology that has already had a profoundly positive effect in biology, agriculture, and medicine and is poised to treat thousands of intractable diseases. We extend our most enthusiastic congratulations to the entire CRISPR–Cas9 UC Berkeley team for this well-deserved recognition!”

Further, Ellison said, “It is extremely rewarding to collaborate with trailblazing clients like the University of California, which was also awarded a share of the recently announced 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics.”

The award announced today marks the second time in recent years that inventors affiliated with Sterne Kessler clients have been awarded the Nobel Prize. Just two years ago, James P. Allison and Tasuku Honjo received the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their cancer immunotherapy work, some of which also was conducted at UC Berkeley and rights to which were later acquired by Sterne Kessler client Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Read more about the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry on the Nobel Prize website here.

About Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox

Based in Washington, D.C. and renowned for more than four decades for dedication to the protection, transfer, and enforcement of intellectual property rights, Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox is one of the most highly regarded intellectual property specialty law firms in the world. Its team of attorneys, registered patent agents, students, and technical specialists include some of the country’s most respected practitioners of IP law tackling innovations across a broad spectrum of industries. The firm’s practitioners hold over 50 masters and over 50 doctorate degrees in science or engineering and represent Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, start-ups, inventors, venture capital firms, and universities in a client service driven environment that is welcoming, inclusive, and intellectually stimulating. Visit the firm online at sternekessler.com.