Press Release

FierceBiotech names CRISPR Therapeutics as one of its “Fierce 15” Biotech Companies of 2015

BASEL, Switzerland and CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts – Spetember 30, 2015 – CRISPR Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing transformative gene-based medicines for patients with serious diseases, today announced that it has been named by FierceBiotech as one of 2015's Fierce 15 biotechnology companies, designating it as one of the most promising private biotechnology companies in the industry.

"It is an absolute honor to be recognized by FierceBiotech as one of the most exciting and innovative companies within the biotech industry this year," said Dr. Rodger Novak, Chief Executive Officer of CRISPR Therapeutics. "As the impact of CRISPR-Cas9 continues to expand throughout both industry and academia, CRISPR Therapeutics looks to further contribute our extensive experience in the field in order to provide patients suffering from serious diseases with more versatile and easily accessible gene-based medicines."

CRISPR Therapeutics' therapeutic approach is to cure diseases at the molecular level using the breakthrough gene editing technology called CRISPR-Cas9. "CRISPR" refers to Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats occurring in the genome of certain bacteria, from which the system was discovered; Cas9 is a CRISPR-associated endonuclease (an enzyme), the "molecular scissors" that are easily programmed to cut and edit, or correct, disease-associated DNA in a patient's cell. Gene editing technologies, including CRISPR-Cas9, offer the ability to directly modify or correct the underlying disease-associated changes in our genome for the potential treatment of a large number of both rare and common diseases. CRISPR Therapeutics has licensed the foundational CRISPR-Cas9 patent estate for human therapeutic use from its scientific founder, Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier.

The Fierce 15 celebrates the spirit of being "fierce" – championing innovation and creativity, even in the face of intense competition. Every year FierceBiotech evaluates hundreds of private companies from around the world for its annual Fierce 15 list, which is based on a variety of factors such as the strength of its technology, partnerships, venture backers and a competitive market position.

This is FierceBiotech's thirteenth annual Fierce 15 selection. A complete list of "Fierce 15" companies can be found online at www.fiercebiotech.com/fierce15.

About FierceBiotech

FierceBiotech is the biotech industry's daily monitor, an email newsletter and web resource providing the latest biotech news, articles, and resources related to clinical trials, drug discovery, FDA approval, FDA regulation, patent news, pharma news, biotech company news and more. More than 150,000 top biotech professionals rely on FierceBiotech for an insider briefing on the day's top stories. Signup is free at www.fiercebiotech.com/signup.

About CRISPR Therapeutics

The mission of CRISPR Therapeutics is to develop transformative gene-based medicines for patients with serious diseases. Our therapeutic approach is to cure diseases at the molecular level using the breakthrough gene editing technology called CRISPR-Cas9. With our multi-disciplinary team of world-renowned academics, drug developers and clinicians, we are uniquely positioned to translate CRISPR-Cas9 technology into human therapeutics. We have licensed the foundational CRISPR-Cas9 patent estate for human therapeutic use from our scientific founder, Dr. Emmanuelle Charpentier. We are headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, our R&D operations are in Cambridge, Massachusetts and we have corporate offices in London, United Kingdom. www.crisprtx.com

MEDIA CONTACTS:

For FierceBiotech:
Rebecca Friend
202-824-5050
rebecca@fiercemarkets.com

For CRISPR Therapeutics:
MacDougall Biomedical Communications
Kari Watson in US +1 781 235 3060
Anca Alexandru in Europe +49 (89) 2424-3494
crisprtxmedia@macbiocom.com