ROCKVILLE, Md. and CARLSBAD, Calif., July 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Celera Genomics (NYSE: CRA - news), an Applera Corporation business, and Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (Nasdaq: ISIP - news) announced today that Celera will employ Isis' GeneTrove expertise in antisense gene functionalization to identify the biological role of more than 200 novel genes. GeneTrove, Isis' functional genomics division, will complete this work within 18 months using its proprietary High Throughput Gene Functionalization system.
Under the agreement, Celera will select the genes to be studied. Celera and GeneTrove will jointly prioritize the genes for functionalization studies to be performed by GeneTrove in its extensive set of pharmacological assays. Isis will maintain rights to develop antisense drugs to the genes. Celera has the right to select a limited number of functionalized genes as exclusive targets in developing therapeutic agents. GeneTrove will provide Celera antisense reagents for its exclusive functionalized genes. Isis will commercialize the data on the remaining genes through its GeneTrove Human Gene Function Database. Gene function intellectual property generated by the collaboration will be jointly owned by the companies and will be available to GeneTrove's Human Gene Function Database subscribers. Celera and Isis will equally share revenue generated by the licensing of collaboration intellectual property. The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
``We are impressed with the power and efficiency of the Isis antisense gene functionalization technology,'' said J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., Celera's President and Chief Scientific Officer. ``This agreement should provide Celera with valuable information on the function and potential medical implications of key genes, which we plan to use in our internal drug discovery program.''
``Our collaboration with Celera is highly synergistic, as it brings us together with a leader in genomic sequencing,'' said Stanley T. Crooke, M.D., Ph.D., Isis' Chairman and CEO. ``The collaboration is strategically important for GeneTrove, as we gain access to new genes that will enrich our Human Gene Function Database. This transaction will help us achieve our goal of inhibiting 1,500-2,000 genes in total this year and functionalizing 10,000 genes in four years.''
GeneTrove is engaged in functional genomics collaborations with a growing number of pharmaceutical company partners. By year-end, the division will introduce its first subscription database product to Early Access Program partners. GeneTrove's Human Gene Function Database will be populated with data on up to 10,000 genes studied in multiple phenotypic assays that are relevant to oncology, angiogenesis, and inflammatory and metabolic diseases. Subscribers will have access to biological data that documents cause-and-effect gene relationships in a powerful software platform. The data will enable empirically-based drug discovery decisions.
Isis and its GeneTrove division have pioneered antisense methods that rapidly, efficiently and precisely determine the role of particular genes within a biological system. GeneTrove's antisense inhibitors are highly specific and can be used in a broad variety of cell types. GeneTrove also has industry-leading expertise in the in vivo application of antisense inhibitors that allows evaluation in animal models of disease.
Isis will conduct a live webcast conference call to discuss this release on Monday, July 16, at 10:30 AM Eastern time. To participate over the Internet, go to www.streetfusion.com. A replay of the webcast will be available at this address for up to 90 days... |
