Press Release

CRISPR Therapeutics Strengthens Its Leadership Team with the Appointment of Marc Becker as Chief Financial Officer

BASEL, Switzerland and CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts – March 10, 2016 – CRISPR Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing transformative gene-based medicines for patients with serious diseases, today announced the appointment of Marc Becker as Chief Financial Officer to further support the Company's efforts to develop game-changing drugs derived from its proprietary CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing technology platform. Mr. Becker is a seasoned executive who brings more than 20 years of experience in commercial, operational and corporate finance and a deep understanding of the global biopharmaceutical industry.

Prior to joining CRISPR Therapeutics, Mr. Becker served as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of rEVO Biologics, a commercial stage company with research, clinical, and manufacturing operations. At rEVO, Mr. Becker led the finance team in anticipation of raising private and public capital, outlined the market opportunity for the Company and managed its governance and SEC Compliance through S-1 filing and IPO Road Show.

"Marc's experience with biopharmaceutical companies in various stages of the lifecycle, expertise in identifying capital market opportunities and his ability to effectively establish core business operations will be invaluable to CRISPR Therapeutics at this time of growth for our company," said Rodger Novak, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of CRISPR Therapeutics. "Marc's extensive network and proven track record to establish internal controls will be vital as we continue to engage in key strategic ventures to support the discovery, development and commercialization of new breakthrough therapeutics."

Prior to rEVO, Mr. Becker spent 10 years at Genzyme, most recently serving as Finance Director for the UK and Ireland before returning to the United States to become the Vice President of Finance for Genzyme's $1.1 billion Renal and Endocrine business. Mr. Becker had global P&L responsibility with multiple product lines, large scale, and reimbursement complexity.

Mr. Becker started his career in auditing and commercial lending for financial services firms, KPMG and BankBoston. Mr. Becker holds a BS from the University of Massachusetts, an MBA from Babson College and was licensed as a CPA.

"I am excited to join the CRISPR Therapeutics leadership team as the Company's growth accelerates with the introduction of strategic partnerships and ventures," said Mr. Becker. "Our technology is truly revolutionary and I'm delighted to be part of the team that will enable the development of life-changing medicines."

CRISPR Therapeutics is focused on the discovery and development of potential cures for serious diseases using its proprietary CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology. The Company's multi-disciplinary team of world-class drug developers, clinicians and academics is working on its own proprietary product pipeline and also partnering with some of the world's leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to translate this technology into breakthrough human therapeutics. The foundational CRISPR-Cas9 patent estate for human therapeutic use was licensed from scientific founder Emmanuelle Charpentier, Ph.D. CRISPR Therapeutics recently entered into substantial strategic partnerships with Vertex Pharmaceuticals and Bayer.

CRISPR Therapeutics is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland with its R&D operations based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information, please visit www.crisprtx.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Jennifer Paganelli

W2O Group for CRISPR

347-658-8290

jpaganelli@w2ogroup.com