THE WOODLANDS, Texas, April 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Lexicon Genetics Incorporated (Nasdaq: LEXG - news) today announced that it has been issued U.S. Patent No. 6,207,371 (the ``371 patent'') entitled ``Indexed Library of Cells Containing Genomic Modifications and Methods of Making and Utilizing the Same.'' The newly-issued patent extends the scope of Lexicon's broad patent estate in the field of gene trapping, now covered by a total of four issued U.S. patents. The gene trapping patents complement Lexicon's gene targeting patent portfolio to provide the company with broad coverage over technologies used to efficiently determine the in vivo functions of genes and their pharmaceutical applications. Lexicon has used its gene trapping technology to discover genes having pharmaceutical product potential in the areas of cancer, cardiovascular disease, immune disorders, neurological disease, diabetes and obesity.
The 371 patent broadly covers the gene trapping technology that Lexicon has used to generate its OmniBank® library of well over 100,000 gene knockout clones. Lexicon is using OmniBank to systematically discover the functions of genes uncovered by the Human Genome Project and other sequencing efforts, determining the medical importance of genes and their value for drug discovery and development based on in vivo mammalian biology. Lexicon has recently accelerated its OmniBank production and estimates that the OmniBank library now contains gene knockout clones for more than 40% of all genes in the mammalian genome.
The 371 patent also covers the gene trapping technology that Lexicon has used to discover gene sequence information from thousands of human genes. Lexicon has filed patent applications covering more than 50,000 partial human gene sequences from its gene trapping program.
Finally, the 371 patent covers collections of mutated animal cells such as the knockout mouse ES cell clones contained in Lexicon's OmniBank library, as well as Lexicon's gene trapping vectors and related methods. Lexicon also announced the earlier issuance of U.S. Patent No. 6,139,833 (the ``833 patent'') entitled ``Targeted Gene Discovery.'' The 833 patent also covers elements of Lexicon's gene trapping technology.
``These patents further confirm Lexicon's leadership and ownership position in technologies for defining mammalian gene function for drug discovery,'' said Arthur T. Sands, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Lexicon. ``We believe that both our genome-wide gene trapping and gene-specific gene targeting technologies provide us with unique competitive advantages in translating gene discoveries into new therapeutic products.''... |
