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USE OF BOOM PATENT EXPANDS PROMEGA’S GENOMICS
SOLUTIONS
MADISON, WISCONSIN (March 5, 2001) Promega Corporation announced an
agreement with Organon Teknika, B.V.
granting Promega a worldwide, non-exclusive license to develop, manufacture, and market
products for nucleic acid purification under its 'Boom' patent (US 5,234,809 and its
foreign equivalents). The agreement expands Promega’s ability to offer integrated
solutions to purify nucleic acids from humans, animals or plants and leverages
Promega’s new MagneSil™ products, protected by recently issued U.S. patent
number 6,027,945.
The Boom patent license combined
with MagneSil™ paramagnetic particle products advances the discovery and development
of genomic information. Together, the two enable scientists to rapidly and reliably purify
DNA and RNA on laboratory robotics. By licensing the
Boom patent, life scientists now access a complete range of purification solutions for
genomic DNA, total RNA, plasmid, PCR and cleanup of dye terminator reactions. The first of
a series of MagneSil™ paramagnetic
particles – launched in March 2001 – are covered by Promega patents both issued
and pending and represent a novel and robust approach for the purification of nucleic
acids.
"This agreement gives Promega a
significant competitive advantage in nucleic acid purification," stated Rick Smith, Worldwide Team Leader for Nucleic Acid Analysis.
"The Boom patent, combined with Promega’s proprietary magnetic silica products,
meet the higher throughput needs of the pharmaceutical and clinical research
markets," added Smith.
Richard Schifreen, Ph.D., Business Unit Leader for Molecular
Diagnostics adds, "The new MagneSil™ reagent platform provides an alternative
for plant biotechnology and clinical diagnostics laboratories that is flexible with
respect to sample volume and compatible with a range of robotic systems. Attractive
automation options are available for laboratories to process from ten to thousands of
samples each day."
"This is a next step by Organon Teknika in making the Boom
technology widely available to customers in the fields of research and clinical
diagnostics through our licensees, therewith confirming the Boom technology as the
standard for Nucleic Acid isolation in these markets", explained Wout van Everdingen,
Director Licensing of Organon Teknika.
Organon Teknika, with headquarters in Boxtel, the
Netherlands, specializes in research & development, manufacturing and marketing of
advanced systems and products for hospitals, laboratories and blood banks. The company
currently employs more than 2,200 people and is active in more than 60 countries
worldwide.
Promega Corporation is a global leader in providing innovative
products and technical support for the life sciences industry. The company’s 1,200
products enable scientists worldwide to advance knowledge in genomic research, molecular
and cell biology, molecular diagnostics, drug discovery, and human identification. Founded
in 1978, the company is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. Annual sales exceed $100
million.
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