With the gene editing pipeline at stake, academic research institutions are battling for ownership of the foundational patents in CRISPR/Cas9 technology. A new report from Datamonitor Healthcare spells out the IP challenges and provides a timeline of key patent decisions.

Biomedical researchers are rapidly adopting the new gene-editing technology CRISPR/Cas9 for lab experiments, but can CRISPR also become the basis for new treatments of human disease? At least two venture-backed start-ups can't wait to find out.

Coming year could feature first-time approvals in the EU for at least five gene therapies.