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>>CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 10, 2002--VARIAGENICS, INC. (Nasdaq: VGNX - News), an emerging molecular diagnostics company and leader in cancer pharmacogenomics, today announced licensing agreements under VARIAGENICS' MTHFR (methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase) patent rights with ARUP Laboratories, a leading full-service clinical reference laboratory. Under the terms of these agreements, VARIAGENICS has granted ARUP non-exclusive rights to commercialize home brew tests for MTHFR allele testing associated with increased thrombo-embolic disease risk and other disorders. Financial and other details were not discussed.
"MTHFR mutation detection represents a key component of our cardiovascular disease risk test menu offering that our customers increasingly require," said Ronald L. Weiss, MD, Senior Vice President at ARUP. "We anticipate a highly productive relationship with VARIAGENICS that will allow ARUP a competitive edge in meeting the needs of our clients in the hospital and office-based clinical community."
"ARUP's licensing of our MTHFR allelic variance testing technology represents a significant recognition of the value of VARIAGENICS' intellectual property," said Joseph S. (Jay) Mohr, President and Chief Business Officer of Variagenics. "Relationships such as this constitute an integral part of our diagnostic product development strategy, whereby VARIAGENICS' proprietary validated markers are first offered to the clinical research testing community, thereby generating revenue and further validation."
The MTHFR patent rights were acquired from McGill University by VARIAGENICS in 1999. Since then, Variagenics and McGill University have actively collaborated in the discovery and development of pharmacogenomic markers related to this gene. Variations in the MTHFR gene are associated with cardiovascular disease, central nervous system disorders, osteoporosis, disorders influenced by folic acid metabolism, and cancer. Earlier prediction and/or detection of these diseases are a key focus for medical researchers, pharmaceutical companies, and treating physicians. In June 2000, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued U.S. Patent 6,074,821 titled "cDNA for Human Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase" and in April 2001 issued US Patent 6,218,120 titled "Methods for detecting human methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase allelic variants."
Both patents, which were assigned to McGill University, were licensed exclusively to VARIAGENICS under the terms of the original 1999 agreement. These patents claim diagnostic probes and methods associated with the detection of clinically significant variance in the MTHFR gene.
About ARUP Laboratories
ARUP Laboratories is a national full-service reference laboratory owned by the Department of Pathology at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center. ARUP is a worldwide leader in innovative laboratory research and development, led by the efforts of the ARUP Institute for Clinical and Experimental Pathology, LLC. With revenue of greater than $140 million and more than 1,300 employees, ARUP offers over 2,000 tests and test combinations, ranging from routine cytology screens to highly esoteric molecular and genetic assays. ARUP's clients include university teaching hospitals, multihospital groups, major commercial laboratories, group purchasing organizations, military and government facilities, major clinics, and major pharmaceutical firms. Additional information is available on ARUP's Web site at www.aruplab.com.<<
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