VISCHER assists CRISPR Therapeutics in all Swiss law matters of the strategic research collaboration concluded with Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (Nasdaq: VRTX) focused on the use of CRISPR's gene editing technology, known as CRISPR-Cas9, to discover and develop potential new treatments aimed at the underlying genetic causes of human disease. Vertex and CRISPR will focus their initial gene editing research on discovering treatments to address the mutations and genes known to cause and contribute to cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease. As part of the collaboration, Vertex made an up-front commitment of $105 million to CRISPR, including $75 million in cash and a $30 million equity investment in addition to downstream profit sharing and royalty payments. The team at VISCHER was led by Matthias Staehelin with Angelo Imperiale (both Corporate) and Nadia Tarolli (Tax).