SEQUENOM and National Institutes of Health Expand Relationship for Gene Expression

Agreement Builds on Success of Previous SNP Genotyping Research

23-Jul-2004

SEQUENOM, Inc. announced a collaboration with the National human genome Research Institute (NHGRI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to perform allele-specific gene expression of genes conferring susceptibility to type II diabetes using MassARRAY(TM) Quantitate Gene Expression (QGE). The new three-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) builds on previous research by the two organizations to analyze DNA for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that correlate to the disease and furthers work performed by the NHGRI for the Finland-United States Investigation of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) FUSION project.

"SEQUENOM's MassARRAY technology is particularly suited for the needs of our research," said NHGRI Director Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D. "The flexibility and accuracy of the technology not only allow us to assess differential expressions of genes, but also to identify the specific alleles that are being regulated."

SEQUENOM launched MassARRAY QGE in 2003. Based on feasibility studies, MassARRAY QGE results have been shown to be precise to within 3 percent with high reproducibility rates. The application offers six orders of dynamic range and supports demanding applications such as the quantitative analysis of gene expression differences between two alleles of the same gene.

"The NHGRI has successfully identified genes associated with type II diabetes," said Toni Schuh, Ph.D., SEQUENOM's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our technology will now help the NHGRI to determine how genetic variations impact gene expression. The link between genetic variations and gene expression can be characterized as the link between functional genomics and human genetics. We believe the demand for this analysis is increasing rapidly and will be a driver for SEQUENOM's growth. Internal market research has shown there is a pressing need for quantitative gene expression technology that is very sensitive and more precise than current technologies. MassARRAY fulfills this need and offers these capabilities at a significantly lower assay design cost compared to current standard protocols."

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