Aurora Announces Issuance of U.S. Patent for Fluorescent Membrane Potential Sensor Technology.LA JOLLA, Calif.--(BW Healthwire)--Sept. 17, 1997--Aurora Biosciences Corporation (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on :ABSC ABSC Association des Bibliothèques de la Santé du Canada (Canadian Health Libraries Association) ABSC Alaska Biological Science Center ABSC Albany-Berkeley Soccer Club ABSC Active Business Software Consultancy ) today announced the issuance of U.S. Patent Number 5,661,035 that relates to novel compositions and methods for fluorescent monitoring of membrane potential. The Company believes that these fluorescent membrane potential sensors are valuable chemical tools with significant advantages over existing methods for scientific research and drug discovery, particularly for ion channel targets. A number of important medicines, such as calcium antagonists, act on ion channels; and novel ion channels are the targets of discovery programs in many pharmaceutical companies. Aurora's membrane potential sensor technology is part of Aurora's portfolio of fluorescent technologies accessed by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly and Company Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) is a global pharmaceutical company and one of the world's largest corporations. Eli Lilly's global headquarters is located in Indianapolis, Indiana, in the United States. for drug discovery research as part of Aurora's Ultra-High Throughput Screening (UHTS UHTS Ultrahigh-Throughput Screening (Pharmaceutical Industry) UHTS Universal Hydraulic Test Stand ) System syndicate. Roche Bioscience also has certain rights to Aurora's potential sensor technology. "The issuance of Aurora's membrane potential sensor technology patent is an indication of Aurora's progress in the area of ion channels," said Roger L. Whiting, senior vice president, head neurobiology Neurobiology Study of the development and function of the nervous system, with emphasis on how nerve cells generate and control behavior. The major goal of neurobiology is to explain at the molecular level how nerve cells differentiate and develop their unit, Roche Bioscience. "We believe that Aurora's fluorescent technologies and instrumentation will play an important role in how companies discover new medicines related to ion channels." This recently issued patent is one of a series of patent applications exclusively licensed to Aurora by the Regents of the University of California The Regents of the University of California make up the governing board of the University of California. The Board has 26 full (i.e., voting) members:
The new membrane potential sensors were first developed in the laboratory of one of the Company's scientific founders, Dr. Roger Y. Tsien Roger Yonchien Tsien (1952-) is an American chemist and a professor at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego.[1] Birth and education Roger Y. Tsien was born in New York, in 1952. , a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Howard Hughes Medical Institute, (HHMI), nonprofit medical research organization founded in 1953 by Howard Hughes and largly funded from proceeds of the 1984–85 sale of Hughes Aircraft. Headquartered in Chevy Chase, Md. Investigator and a Professor of Pharmacology, Chemistry, and Biochemistry at the University of California The University of California has a combined student body of more than 191,000 students, over 1,340,000 living alumni, and a combined systemwide and campus endowment of just over $7.3 billion (8th largest in the United States). San Diego. Aurora's proprietary membrane potential sensors use fluorescence resonance energy transfer Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) describes an energy transfer mechanism between two chromophores. A donor chromophore in its excited state can transfer energy by a nonradiative, long-range dipole-dipole coupling mechanism to an acceptor chromophore in close between two fluorescent probes to report the potential (voltage) across cell membranes. The Company believes that these sensors should permit more reliable detection than do currently available methods, giving faster responses and less susceptibility to undesirable screening artifacts artifacts see specimen artifacts. . The inventors of this technology are Dr. Roger Y. Tsien, and Dr. Jesus Gonzalez, senior scientist in Aurora's cell biology department. Aurora designs and develops proprietary drug discovery systems, services and technologies to accelerate and enhance the discovery of new medicines. Aurora is developing an integrated technology platform comprised of a portfolio of proprietary fluorescent assay technologies and an ultra-high throughput screening system designed to allow assay miniaturization min·i·a·tur·ize tr.v. min·i·a·tur·ized, min·i·a·tur·iz·ing, min·i·a·tur·iz·es To plan or make on a greatly reduced scale. min and to overcome many of the limitations associated with the traditional drug discovery process. The Company believes that this platform will enable Aurora and its collaborators, which currently include Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Company and Allelix Biopharmaceuticals, Inc., to take advantage of the opportunities created by recent advances in genomics and combinatorial chemistry that have generated many new therapeutic targets and an abundance of new, small molecule compounds. Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical are "forward-looking" statements which involve a high degree of technological and competitive risks and uncertainties that exist in the Company's operations and business environment. Such statements are only predictions and the Company's actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to differences include risks associated with the Company's new and uncertain technology, dependence on pharmaceutical and biotechnology collaborations, and the development or availability of competing systems. These factors and others are more fully described in the Company's prospectus dated June 19, 1997, as well as the Company's most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. CONTACT: Aurora Biosciences Corporation Paul A. Grayson, 619/452-5000 ext. 113 graysonp@aurorabio.com |
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