VARIAGENICS Announces Licensing Agreement With Quest Diagnostics for Genetic Cardiovascular Marker
Tuesday October 29, 3:16 pm ET
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 29, 2002--VARIAGENICS, INC. (Nasdaq: VGNX - News), an emerging molecular diagnostics company and leader in cancer pharmacogenomics, today announced it has signed a licensing agreement under VARIAGENICS' MTHFR (methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase) patent rights with Quest Diagnostics, Inc. (NYSE: DGX - News), the nation's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services.
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Under the terms of the agreement, VARIAGENICS has granted Quest Diagnostics non-exclusive rights to commercialize laboratory developed tests for MTHFR allele testing associated with increased thrombo-embolic disease risk and other disorders. Financial and other details were not disclosed.
"We are excited to license our MTHFR allelic variance testing technology to Quest Diagnostics, and this reflects the value of VARIAGENICS' intellectual property," said Joseph S. (Jay) Mohr, President and Chief Business Officer of VARIAGENICS. "Quest Diagnostics' clinical expertise and access to physicians around the country will help to expand the availability of new cardiovascular tests based on the MTHFR allele."
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. A number of research studies associate variations in the MTHFR gene with cardiovascular disease, and the gene is also believed to be involved in 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.
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