OXFORD
BIOMEDICA
Oxford Biomedica Announces Bioinformatics Collaboration
with Informax
Oxford Biomedica to be First GenomaxT User in UK
Oxford,
UK - 26 September 2000: Oxford BioMedica plc announced today
that it has entered into a software licensing agreement with
InforMax Inc., Rockville, Md, USA. InforMax is a leading global
provider of bioinformatics software solutions for accelerated
drug discovery.
The software
licensing agreement is the cornerstone of a bioinformatics
collaboration between BioMedica and InforMax in which BioMedica
will have access to InforMax's latest software. This will
be used to analyse and interpret the genomics data arising
from BioMedica's new Gene Discovery Division. BioMedica and
InforMax will also work together to promote InforMax's products
and services in Europe, with BioMedica acting as the first
reference site in the UK. Furthermore, BioMedica and InforMax
have agreed to enter discussions about marketing jointly the
genetic information produced from BioMedica's gene discovery
programmes. BioMedica will retain, however full commercial
licensing rights to the genes themselves and the products
derived from them.
Founded
in 1990 and headquartered in Rockville, Md., InforMax, Inc.
is a global leader in bioinformatics. This is an essential
technology for addressing the challenge of unravelling the
meaning of the enormous amount of biological and chemical
data that has recently become available in the public domain.
InforMax provides solutions for the analysis and interpretation
of genomic, proteomic and other biomolecular data and has
a large international customer network composed of leading
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
The software
solutions being used by BioMedica are GenoMax™ and the
Vector NTI™ Suite. GenoMax™ is an 'enterprise' bioinformatics
system that facilitates high-speed analysis of both public
and proprietary genetic data sets within a secure environment.
The Vector NTI™ Suite comprises four major application
programs that assist with the mapping, analysis and assembly
of gene fragments.
With
InforMax's software, BioMedica's bioinformatics system will
be used to analyse its results in the context of the information
published on the Internet and on private databases. These
databases include, for example, the results of human-gene-mapping
research stored in the Genome Database and DNA-sequence information
stored in several databases, including NIH's GenBank, Swiss-Prot
and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory's Nucleotide
Sequence Database.
Commenting
on the InforMax agreement, BioMedica's Chief Executive Professor
Alan Kingsman said:
"We are very pleased to be working with InforMax which
has developed powerful software tools that complement our
existing gene hunting capabilities. The agreement gives BioMedica
the benefit of InforMax's large team of in-house bioinformatics
specialists. This collaboration will enable us to increase
the efficiency and speed of analysis of the exciting results
yielded by our proprietary Smartomics™ technologies and
will be a key component in establishing a strong patent portfolio
in this field." |
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| Notes
to Editors
| 1. |
Oxford
BioMedica plc
Established in 1995, the Company specialises in the
development and application of gene-based therapeutics
using advanced gene delivery technologies for the treatment
of disease in the areas of oncology, viral infection
and neurodegenerative disease. Oxford BioMedica plc
was floated on the UK Alternative Investment Market
of the London Stock Exchange in December 1996.
BioMedica,
well known for its leading edge gene therapy technology
and its target validation technology using LentiVector®,
recently raised £8.5m to develop its Gene Discovery
Division. The Company also announced recently its first
discovery from the new division, novel genes that may
be drug targets for the treatment of cancer, cardiovascular
disease and arthritis.
|
| 2. |
BioMedica's
Gene Discovery Division
An increasing amount of data about genes and their relationship
with disease is being generated by the genomics and proteomics
industries. In addition the completion of the Human Genome
Project is starting to provide a vast source of genetic
data. The key challenge that faces the pharmaceutical
and biotechnology industry now is to derive value from
these data by producing new products to treat major diseases.
BioMedica is meeting this challenge with two proprietary
technologies, Smartomics™ and LentiVector®
|
| 3. |
SmartomicsT
Smartomics™ is a 'knowledge-based' system using BioMedica's
gene delivery systems to improve the output of genomic
and proteomic screens. The technology works by selectively
amplifying the activity of disease-related genes. This
makes these important genes easier to identify and it
provides more information on their function. The improved
screening process using BioMedica's proprietary LentiVector®
technology allows rapid identification of a more select
group of genes, of which a much larger proportion are
mechanistically linked to a particular disease. This should
provide a faster route to product development, and products
derived from the genes should be patented more effectively.
|
| 4. |
LentiVector®
Technology LentiVector® Technology makes
use of a heavily engineered virus, Equine Infectious Anaemia
Virus, to deliver genes to a wide range of cell types,
including non-dividing primary cells. The vector was developed
as part of the Company's gene therapy programmes. The
technology can also be used to identify, amongst the many
hundreds of genes emerging from genomics and proteomics
programmes, those few genes that are directly involved
in disease mechanisms and which are, therefore, the prime
targets for pharmaceutical product development. This is
known as Target Validation. BioMedica has already signed
deals in this area with AstraZeneca and Aventis and there
are other deals in discussion.
|
| 5. |
InforMax
Headquartered in Rockville, Md., InforMax, Inc. is a
global leader in bioinformatics, providing solutions
for the analysis and interpretation of genomic, proteomic
and other biomolecular data. InforMax, founded in 1990
by Dr. Alex Titomirov, enables over 20,000 researchers
worldwide to achieve greater insights into genetic function
through biological data mining and integrated genomics
analysis. Presently, InforMax offers Vector NTI™
Suite desktop sequence analysis software and GenoMax™
enterprise bioinformatics system. Additional information
about InforMax can be found at the company's site on
the World Wide Web at www.informaxinc.com.
-
GenoMax™
GenoMax is an enterprise bioinformatics system that
facilitates high-speed analysis of both public and
proprietary genetic data sets within the security
of the corporate firewall. GenoMax™ offers speed,
security, and scalability through the employment of
client-server architecture, Oracle®
relational databases, and a sophisticated Java-based
graphical user interface. To complete the delivery
of a High Throughput Research ™(HTR™) environment,
InforMax offers GenoMax modules for Sequence Analysis,
Gene Expression Analysis, and Protein 3D Structure.
Additional modules that are currently in development
for integration into GenoMax include Genomic Viewing,
Protein-Protein Interaction and SNP Analysis.
- Vector
NTI™Suite
The Vector NTI™ Suite consists of four major
application programs, including: Vector NTI®
for mapping and illustration, primer design and analysis,
and strategic recombinant design; BioPlot™ for
protein and nucleic acid sequence analysis; AlignX™
for multiple sequence alignment; and ContigExpress™
for sequencing project management and fragment assembly.
All the programs of the suite are integrated on the
user's desktop.
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| For
further information please contact: |
|
|
Oxford BioMedica plc
Professor Alan
Kingsman, Chief Executive |
Tel:
+44 (0)1865 783 000 |
| City/Financial
Enquiries
David
Simonson, Melanie Toyne Sewell
Merlin Financial Communications |
Tel:
+44 (0)207 606 1244 |
| Scientific/Trade
Enquiries
Sue
Charles/ Katja Stout,
HCC•De Facto Group |
Tel:
+44 (0)207 496 3300 |
|
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