Berry & Associates Awarded $749k Phase II SBIR Grant for Oligonucleotide Purification Method.

DEXTER, Mich. -- Berry & Associates, Inc. announced today that the company has been awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant, $748,727 over two years, will be used to develop methods for the purification of synthetic pieces of DNA and RNA for applications in genetics, diagnostics, and therapeutics.

Oligonucleotides, which are small synthetic fragments of the nucleic acids DNA and RNA, are prepared using solid-phase synthesis, a process that involves hundreds of sequential chemical reactions that occur imperfectly and produce undesired by-products that must be removed by tedious purification techniques. An earlier Phase I SBIR grant allowed Berry & Associates to develop a quick and simple way purifying oligonucleotides based on a technique known as fluorous affinity purification. Fluorous tags (perfluoroalkyl "ponytails") are added to oligonucleotides using traditional solid-phase synthesis techniques and act as purification handles. The tagged material is captured by passing the crude synthesis mixture through a cartridge containing a fluorinated adsorbent for which the tag has a high affinity. Impurities, which do not bear a fluorous tag, are not captured and are eluted to waste. Finally, the fluorous tag is removed, allowing the purified oligonucleotide to elute. When compared to existing methods for oligonucleotide purification, the fluorous method is operationally convenient and offers improved yields, selectivity, and purity, making it an attractive technique for the manufacture of oligonucleotide-based diagnostics and therapeutics. Phase II funding will allow extension of the initial work to the purification of modified oligonucleotides where one or more nucleotide units have been altered to provide specific functionality for diagnostic and therapeutic use.

About Berry & Associates

Berry & Associates, Inc., founded in 1989 and located in Dexter, Michigan, is a privately held chemistry company that provides biomedical researchers with specialty nucleosides, nucleotides, and DNA/RNA synthesis monomers (phosphoramidites and solid-phase-linked reagents) as well as fluorescent markers, biotins, carbohydrates, and heterocycles. Recent innovative products include fluorous affinity products for oligonucleotide purification and BlackBerry(TM) Quenchers for use in fluorogenic oligonucleotide probes.