IGEN enters the mad-cow frenzy:
IGEN, D-Gen to Develop New Mad Cow Disease Test
GAITHERSBURG, Md. and LONDON, Feb. 27 /PRNewswire/ --
IGEN International, Inc. (NASDAQ:IGEN) and D-Gen Ltd. today announced
commencement of a program aimed at the further development of a new test for
bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or "mad cow disease."
This collaboration aims to develop a post-mortem assay for use in
slaughterhouses to test cattle before they enter the food chain. The new test
would be formatted for IGEN's ORIGEN(R) detection system and would exploit
innovative technology discovered in the laboratory of Professor John Collinge,
M.D.
Professor Collinge is head of the Department of Neurogenetics at Imperial
College and directs the U.K. Medical Research Council's Prion Unit, both in
London. He and his colleagues were the first to establish that a novel, and
invariably fatal, brain disorder called variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is
caused by the same strain of prions, or infectious protein particles, that
causes BSE in cattle.
Based on the technology discovered in his laboratory, Professor Collinge
has already developed a prototype assay formatted for the ORIGEN detection
system.
"The increased awareness of the risks of infectious prions in contaminated
foodstuffs has heightened the demand for rapid tests capable of detecting
infected, but apparently healthy, animals," said Professor Collinge, a founder
of D-Gen. "The proprietary reagents developed at Imperial College offer an
opportunity to develop tests with sufficient sensitivity to meet the needs of
the food industry. We chose to work with IGEN as we believe the ORIGEN
technology adds an additional dimension to our reagents and will help produce
a highly sensitive, robust, and easy-to-use prion detection assay."
Said Richard J. Massey, Ph.D., IGEN's President and Chief Operating
Officer: "Our collaboration with Professor Collinge and his colleagues has
already proven valuable based on accomplishments with respect to the prototype
assay. Further, Professor Collinge's scientific leadership in the field
provides access to unique reagents, and his extensive experience will help
tremendously in developing the best test for BSE."
IGEN develops and markets biological detection systems based on its
proprietary ORIGEN technology, which provides a unique combination of
sensitivity, reliability, speed, and flexibility. ORIGEN-based systems are
used in a wide variety of applications, including clinical diagnostics,
pharmaceutical research and development, life science research, and industrial
testing for food safety and quality control. These systems are marketed by
IGEN and its licensees and/or distributors -- Roche Diagnostics; Organon
Teknika; Eisai Co., Ltd.; Sumitomo Corp.; and Sanko Junyaku Co., Ltd. More
information about the company can be found at igen.com .
D-Gen Ltd. is a start-up company founded by Imperial College, the U.K.
Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, and the University of Bristol,
together with Professor Collinge and his academic colleagues. Its aim is to
promote the development of diagnostics and therapeutics for prion diseases.
Research leading to the development of D-Gen's technology was funded by the
Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council. |
