Pairwise licenses Fulcrum gene-editing platform to Hudson River Biotechnology

Pairwise has licensed its Fulcrum gene-editing platform to Hudson River Biotechnology, giving the Netherlands-based crop biotech access to a broader CRISPR toolkit that it will fold into the editing services it sells to vegetable, soft-fruit, and other breeding customers.

The agreement, announced May 26, extends the partnership-first commercialization model of Pairwise, the Durham, North Carolina company that out-licenses Fulcrum rather than developing every trait itself. Hudson River will pair the tools with its established BioMaas workflow to deliver edits in a transgene-free manner directly in elite breeding lines.

“Our customers increasingly recognize genome editing as a crucial part of their breeding tools,” said Lotte Westerhof, chief scientific officer at Hudson River.

Fulcrum bundles Pairwise’s gene-editing enzymes, including its SHARC CRISPR system, with trait libraries for use across crop species. The platform has already been licensed to partners, including Bayer and Corteva, as well as research bodies such as CIMMYT and the International Rice Research Institute.

Gene editing is increasingly used to develop traits like disease resistance and improved nutrient-use efficiency that can trim reliance on chemical inputs, a growing priority for breeders as fertilizer costs stay elevated. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.