Cellectis bioresearch, the genome customisation specialist and a commercial subsidiary of Cellectis, and Recombinetics, a specialist in biogenetics, have announced that they have entered a development and licence agreement on the creation of transgenic large livestock.

Recombinetics creates, in accordance with biosafety and animal well-being requirements, large livestock for agricultural, biomedical and bioproduction applications. Following this agreement, Recombinetics will use Cellectis bioresearch's engineered nucleases to conceive animals with improved genetic features.

The agreement, which will run for three years, is exclusive for swine, cattle and sheep and non-exclusive for goat. It broadens the field of applications for the genome customisation tools designed and produced by Cellectis bioresearch, emphasising the versatility of its nucleases.

Marc Le Bozec, CEO of Cellectis bioresearch, said: "We have been amazed by the enthusiasm of the Recombinetics management team and the company's robust results in the genetic engineering of large livestock. Applying our technologies in this new field of application should enable Recombinetics to accelerate its development on this promising market."

Scott Fahrenkrug, CEO of Recombinetics, commented: "This licence enables us to apply the full potential of precision genetics to a variety of livestock applications. In agriculture, we will focus on the acceleration of breeding programmes by rapid allele introgression. In the biomedical space, we will emphasise the addition of new characteristics to animals used in therapeutic development."

Under the terms of the agreement, Cellectis bioresearch is eligible to sales-based milestones of up to $50 million and to royalties on the sales generated by the products developed during this collaboration.