June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Genzyme Molecular Oncology (Nasdaq: GZMO - news) announced today that it has exclusively licensed certain high density DNA array diagnostic and research rights related to the p53 gene to Affymetrix, Inc. (Nasdaq: AFFX - news) for use on its GeneChip© arrays. Affymetrix currently sells p53 arrays that analyze the coding region of the p53 tumor suppressor gene.
In exchange for exclusive rights to p53 for use on certain diagnostic and research DNA arrays, Genzyme Molecular Oncology will receive from Affymetrix an up-front payment, milestones, and minimum royalties on the sale of future GeneChip products that utilize the p53 gene. The Affymetrix license will allow GeneChip array customers to conduct microarray-based p53 tests without seeking an additional license from Genzyme.
``Genzyme Molecular Oncology has a significant patent estate related to the p53 gene and we have been very successful in leveraging this asset to fund our research and development efforts,'' said Gail Maderis, president, Genzyme Molecular Oncology. ``We are pleased to add Affymetrix, a leader in DNA array technology, as a licensee of our diagnostic and research rights to this important tumor suppressor gene, and we will continue to license our remaining intellectual property in this area.''
The p53 gene functions as an important tumor suppressor in the human body. Studies have shown that in more than 50 percent of all human cancers the p53 gene is mutated.
Affymetrix' GeneChip p53 assay uses more than 50,000 unique DNA probes synthesized on a glass ``chip'' to analyze the coding region of p53. The GeneChip p53 assay has been shown by Affymetrix to have an accuracy of greater than 99 percent, and is designed to be faster and easier to use than conventional methods of analysis.
Various diagnostic and therapeutic rights to the p53 gene are exclusively licensed to Genzyme Molecular Oncology by The Johns Hopkins University and are based on work done by Dr. Bert Vogelstein and others of The Johns Hopkins Oncology Center. |
