| Institut Pasteur accord underscores added value of GENOME express's functional genomics platform for research teams in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agrifood sectors |   |
Grenoble, France, July 27 2004 — GENOME express, developer and provider of high added value solutions in functional genomics, announces today that it has signed a partnership agreement with the Institut Pasteur. Under the terms of the agreement, the Institut Pasteur will be able to access the range of tools available on GENOME express's functional genomics platform, in particular in the field of bacterial genomics, under favorable conditions. The agreement applies to Pasteur's internal research programs. Financial terms are undisclosed.
For GENOME express, the deal means a highly credible endorsement of its technology platform, particularly in the fields of microbiology, as well as making the platform a widely used tool by scientists throughout the Institut Pasteur. The agreement also allows for future co-development of products and services that bring together Pasteur's biology expertise and GENOME express's technology platform for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and agrifood industry customers.
The Institut Pasteur will benefit from the tools and technical know-how of GENOME express and the special access terms granted by GENOME express. Building on its knowledge and experience of sequencing and bioinformatics, GENOME express has developed and is now marketing proprietary methods in the field of genomics and comparative transcriptomics. These methods allow academic or industry customers to accelerate their research processes in areas such as the discovery of new molecular diagnostic markers, strain identification, identification of new targets, and adopting appropriate vaccine strategies.
"Institut Pasteur enjoys an international reputation for its work in microbiology and infectious diseases, and this agreement is an impressive endorsement of our technology platform," said Warren Barton, chairman and CEO of GENOME express. "It illustrates our commitment to providing real, significant and competitive benefits to our customers and helping them to optimize the value chain in the discovery process."
"We have already achieved useful research results by using GENOME express tools, in particular in the field of comparative genomics related to molecular epidemiology," said Stewart Cole, director of the Institut Pasteur Genopole. "This agreement opens up for us a range of new possibilities using GENOME express's expertise."
About GENOME express
GENOME express, Grenoble, France, is a leading provider of DNA sequencing services and also develops and markets a range of high value-added solutions for functional genomics. The company offers a unique platform that integrates innovative and proprietary tools for genomics, comparative transcriptomics (gene expression analysis). These tools are linked to an advanced bioinformatics platform comprising GenoStar for bacterial genomic exploration, Syn-QuenceTM for the discovery and identification of SNPs, and PepMap for the identification of proteins via the genomic mapping of mass spectrometry data. Building on its success and experience as a service provider, GENOME express is currently making its platform accessible to private sector researchers and academics. This will be done through partnerships with customers in the diagnostics, pharmaceutical and veterinary sectors enabling them to outsource their R&D projects either in part or totally.
For further information: http://www.genomex.com
Source: Genome Express
