The terms, per the grant. On March 9, 2021, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was issued US10941395B2, "Method for gene editing." The CPC tags — C12N 15/102 (introducing DNA into cells), A61K 48/005 (gene therapy preparations), and the C12N 2750/14143 AAV-delivery series — combine the edit and the way it is delivered, which is exactly what makes a method grant valuable as a license.
Why a business desk values a method grant: in gene editing, the deals that move money are platform licenses, and platform licenses are written around method-and-delivery IP that applies across many disease targets. An institutional grant like this is the kind of asset a company in-licenses to give its programs freedom to operate and a defensible base.
The structure point: a method-plus-delivery grant supports a different deal shape than a single-target grant. It can carry a platform royalty that collects across a licensee's whole pipeline, plus milestones per program. For a model, that distinction is the difference between a narrow and a broad royalty base.
What the grant does not promise: a product, a clinical result, or a clear path around the foundational CRISPR patents held by others. It is an exclusivity claim on a method, and method claims still have to coexist with the broader editing IP thicket.
The takeaway: when pricing a gene-editing platform deal, read the method-and-delivery grants as the load-bearing assets. MIT's March 2021 editing grant is a dated, concrete example of the institutional IP that platform licenses are built around.