Applied Gene Technologies Enters Product Manufacturing and Marketing Agreement With AsiaGen to Fight Tuberculosis.Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers BIOWIRE2K SAN DIEGO--(BW HealthWire)--Nov. 5, 2001 Developing Tuberculosis Diagnostic Using the Tessera tessera: see mosaic. (TM) Array Technology Could Save Millions of Lives Around the World Applied Gene Technologies Inc. today announced that it has signed a manufacturing and marketing agreement with AsiaGen to combat the tuberculosis pandemic pandemic /pan·dem·ic/ (pan-dem´ik) 1. a widespread epidemic of a disease. 2. widely epidemic. pan·dem·ic adj. Epidemic over a wide geographic area. n. in China, India and the Pacific Rim. Under the terms of the agreement, Applied Gene Technologies will receive an upfront payment for the development of tuberculosis diagnostics using its Tessera(TM) Array Technology. In return, Applied Gene Technologies will grant exclusive rights to marketing and manufacturing the product in Asia. "Over three million deaths a year are caused by tuberculosis in Asia. Our diagnostics will help save lives by detecting those that have been exposed to the tuberculosis bacteria more accurately and efficiently, allowing treatment at an earlier stage," said Nani Dattagupta, Ph.D., president and chief scientific officer of Applied Gene Technologies. "Our relationship with AsiaGen will further accelerate the development of new diagnostics using our Tessera Array Technology." Applied Gene Technologies will initially focus on developing molecular diagnostic assays to identify tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases Sexually transmitted diseases Infections that are acquired and transmitted by sexual contact. Although virtually any infection may be transmitted during intimate contact, the term sexually transmitted disease is restricted to conditions that are largely , hepatitis, HIV HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), either of two closely related retroviruses that invade T-helper lymphocytes and are responsible for AIDS. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in the United States. , leukemia and lymphomas. While the initial focus of the company will be to develop diagnostic products for infectious diseases and cancer, Applied Gene Technologies is actively pursuing corporate partnering opportunities to leverage its Tessera Array Technology in applications outside its focus for drug discovery, agriculture, forensics, veterinary medicine and other research applications. "This agreement strongly reinforces our business strategy to focus on manufacturing and marketing opportunities," said Shi-Hui Wu, president of AsiaGen. "We are delighted to strengthen our manufacturing relationship with Applied Gene Technologies as there is a strong need for tuberculosis diagnostics in Asia. Further, we look forward to working with Applied Gene Technologies to support the development of innovative diagnostics in their pipeline." Steps of Tessera(TM) Array Technology The nucleic acids of infectious agents contained in the patient's sample such as blood, sputum sputum /spu·tum/ (spu´tum) [L.] expectoration; matter ejected from the trachea, bronchi, and lungs through the mouth. sputum cruen´tum bloody sputum. or urine are labeled directly on the cell lysate ly·sate n. The cellular debris and fluid produced by lysis. . The labeled nucleic acid samples are denatured de·na·ture tr.v. de·na·tured, de·na·tur·ing, de·na·tures 1. To change the nature or natural qualities of. 2. and hybridized with probes for the detection of sequence of the target marker genes for the infectious agents. Using an array matrix containing probes specific for the infectious organism, detection can be conducted by chemiluminescence chemiluminescence /chemi·lu·mi·nes·cence/ (kem?i-loo?mi-nes´ens) luminescence produced by direct transformation of chemical energy into light energy. , fluorescence, colorimetry colorimetry Measurement of the intensity of electromagnetic radiation in the visible spectrum transmitted through a solution or transparent solid. It is used to identify and determine the concentrations of substances that absorb light of a specific wavelength or colour or mass spectrometry. This reverse hybridization hybridization /hy·brid·iza·tion/ (hi?brid-i-za´shun) 1. crossbreeding; the act or process of producing hybrids. 2. molecular hybridization 3. process is the core of Tessera technology. It provides identification of organisms after a single hybridization reaction rather than needing multiple hybridizations involving labeled probes. Tessera can be used for non-amplification mediated total genome detection and quantitation for drug susceptibility and screening applications. Founded in 2000, AsiaGen is a privately-held biopharmaceutical organization, focused on designing, developing, and marketing clinical nucleic acid-based diagnostics for infectious diseases and cancer. The company occupies a state-of-the-art facility located in Tainan Science-based Industrial Park in Tainan, Taiwan. Founded in 1998, Applied Gene Technologies is focused on revolutionizing the way diseases are diagnosed, monitored and treated around the world. The company is using its proprietary platform technology, Tessera(TM) Array Technology, to develop novel nucleic acid-probe based diagnostics for infectious diseases and cancer. The company is headquartered in San Diego. |
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