Genomica Corp. Licenses Its Bioinformatics Software System to Oxagen Ltd.; Discovery Manager Accelerates Gene Discovery Process.

BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 2, 1998--Genomica Corp., a leading bioinformatics company developing software and services to facilitate gene discovery and drug development, today announced that it has licensed its bioinformatics state-of-the-art software, Discovery Manager(TM) Product Suite, to Oxagen Ltd.

The comprehensive, integrated software supports a range of research activities and provides data that can be used by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Oxagen, a U.K. genomics company, has signed a multiple year licensing agreement for Genomica's software. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"Our tools are a natural fit with Oxagen's expertise in high-throughput genotyping and gene cloning," said Thomas G. Marr, Ph.D., president and chief scientist. "We are delighted to have Oxagen as a customer."

"Genomica's software will help speed our efforts to characterize genes responsible for a wide range of diseases," stated Trevor Nicholls, CEO of Oxagen. "We are glad to have the opportunity to use this dynamic, new state-of-the-art technology. Together with Oxagen's unique access to high quality family collections, this forms a powerful platform for disease gene discovery and the exploration of functional polymorphisms."

In addition to extensive visualization and analysis tools, the software offers project management tools and a comprehensive database of genetic information, collected from the major international genome centers. Unlike other software systems, Discovery Manager integrates data collected from numerous sources through a process of semantic normalization. This process merges data that is represented around the world in a variety of ways into a common semantic model.

The software also is unique in that it brings comprehensive integrated bioinformatics tools to a scientist's desktop for the first time and enables scientists to model the complex relationships among sets of genetic information. Discovery Manager maintains information on every aspect of the gene discovery process, from the clinical genetics work-up, to epidemiology, to genetic analysis, to molecular biology (both physical mapping and sequence analysis) and biochemistry. Other systems focus on only one portion of gene discovery, typically the sequence analysis.

Discovery Manager will be used for gene discovery and functional analysis. The product will be sold to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Oxagen is a genomics company, founded in 1997, as a spin-out from The Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics (WTCHG). The company has established core skills in high-throughput genotyping, positional cloning, statistical genetics and bioinformatics. Research programmes at Oxagen are currently focused on osteoporosis, endometriosis, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and coronary artery disease (CAD). The company also has rights of first refusal to collaborate with clinical groups who have extensive family collections in asthma, psoriasis, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and auto-immune thyroid disease. Oxagen will partner with pharmaceutical companies in programmes of novel target discovery and pharmacogenomics for the development of improved therapeutics.

Genomica Corp. is a leading bioinformatics company with headquarters in Boulder. The company's bioinformatics tools combine clinical, epidemiology, genetic molecular biology and biochemistry applications into a single software package that enables scientists to accelerate genetic discoveries and the development of molecular medicine. Genomica's software supports a range of research activities and provides data that can be accessed and utilized by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The company was established in 1996 by Dr. Marr to commercialize the tools he and his team developed at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York.

    CONTACT: Genomica Corp., Boulder
              Dr. Thomas G. Marr, 303/402-9800
                      or
              Russell-Welsh Inc., San Mateo
              James Burness, 650/312-0700 ext. 16