CIStem Molecular Obtains Fourth Patent for Identifying Regulatory Elements.

Business Editors and Health/Medical Writers

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SAN DIEGO--(BW HealthWire)--Aug. 28, 2000

CIStem Molecular Corp., the first Systems Biology company, Monday announced that it has obtained another key patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (No. 6,100,035) entitled "Method of identifying cis acting nucleic acid elements," expanding the company's patent portfolio for its proprietary methods to identify active gene regulatory elements.

"These regulatory elements are the master switches for critical genes involved in human diseases," said Anne Crossway, Ph.D., MBA, president and chief executive officer of CIStem. "They can be used to both define the genetic circuit involved in any disease and to identify the important disease-mediating genes for use as novel targets in therapeutic, diagnostic and pharmacogenomic applications. The addition of this patent extends our leadership position in Systems Biology and provides us with the necessary protection to form partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies."

CIStem is pioneering a new field of genomics called Regulomics, the study of gene expression at the level of genetic network regulatory mechanisms. By using proprietary molecular technologies, CIStem will identify and characterize the regulatory elements (CIS sites and Trans factors) important in determining which genes are expressed from one cell type to another, e.g., normal vs. diseased cells. This technology can therefore define those elements that regulate entire subcircuits of genes in humans, plants and other organisms.

"Characterization of the regulatory elements that differ between various cell types is key to the understanding of differential gene expression," said Mary Harper, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of CIStem. "Since virtually all disease processes involve inappropriate gene expression, understanding these key regulators will greatly facilitate the discovery of new and better points of therapeutic intervention. This approach is very important because regulatory elements are vastly under-represented in the data derived to date using other genomics technologies."

CIStem Molecular Corp., incorporated in 1999, was founded to capitalize on the growing need for a systems biology approach, one that examines entire communications systems of genetic regulatory networks. While most genomics efforts are focused on structural genes, CIStem is focused on Regulomics, the study of the regulatory regions that control genes, that is, the CIS sites and the Trans-acting factors that bind to them. This molecular approach is a short cut to the critical disease-causing genes that obviates the need for extensive gene expression analysis. CIStem will identify genes that are critical mediators in medically important genetic circuits and, thus, the best drug discovery targets. CIStem's Regulomics approach has the potential for multiple commercial applications, such as faster validated gene target discovery for the pharmaceutical industry, rational engineering of cells for cell-based therapies, and applications in the diagnostic and agbiotech arenas. CIStem is currently pursuing collaborations and partnerships with major pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.