Friday 15 November 2002

Genome express increases focus on integrated collaborative high throughput services and solutions

Company moves to strengthen position as link in partners' R&D value chain

Grenoble, France, November 15, 2002 - GENOME express, the developer of high value-added solutions for functional genomics and target discovery and validation, announces today that it is increasing its focus on integrated high throughput services and solutions for pharmaceutical, biotech and agri-food industries.

The company has already implemented a number of measures to support this strategy. These include the transfer of its oligonucleotide activity to Qbiogene, a Canadian company that develops and markets molecular biology and genomics products, and the recent launch of its proprietary Discriminative Analysis of Clone Signatures (DACSTM) technology, a solution focusing on the discovery process of tissue- or cell-expressed genes.

"Remaining competitive and profitable in oligonucleotide activities would have demanded significant investment," said Yves Laurent, CEO of GENOME express. "We decided it would also be a distraction from our higher added value activities where we are engaged in the development and collaborative deployment of our unique integrated platform (genomics, gene profiling and proteomics, bioinformatics) to address real needs."

The recent launch of its Discriminative Analysis of Clone Signatures (DACS) technology is a good illustration of GENOME express' commitment to providing solutions offering real advantages to its customers and partners.

"In the fast-moving field of exploratory genomics, GENOME express intends to stay in the forefront of high value-added services," added Laurent. "Our new GE-DACS solution eliminates bottlenecks in the discovery process of genes expressed in tissue or in a cell and reduces the expense and time needed to generate resources and information for the expression analysis of these genes."

Future investments and collaborations will reinforce its already powerful in-house technology platforms and the company will continue to build a business that brings tangible, significant benefits to its customers. "We expect to make further exciting announcements that will show how GENOME express brings unique competitive advantages to its customers," concluded Laurent.


About GENOME express
GENOME express, Grenoble, France, develops and markets high value-added solutions for functional genomics. The company offers a unique platform that integrates proprietary tools for genomics (discovery and identification of SNPs — Syn-QuenceTM), transcriptomics (gene expression analysis), and proteomics (identification of proteins using genome mapping of mass spectrometry data — Pep MapTM). Building on its success and experience as a service provider, GENOME express is currently making its platform accessible to private sector researchers and academics in the biopharmaceutical sector. This will be done through partnerships and enable GENOME express customers to outsource their R&D projects either in part or totally. The company is also developing its own research to discover new targets for therapeutic or diagnostic applications in the fields of metabolic diseases such as diabetes or obesity, the central nervous system and bacterial genomics.

For further information: http://www.genomex.com

Source: Genome Express
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