IntegraGen obtains European rights for MODY diabetes genetic testing and plans initial testing service for Germany next year
Paris, France. IntegraGen, the personalized medicines company, announced today that it has signed a licensing deal with Correlagen, Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, to provide MODY (Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young) gene testing in Europe. IntegraGen has established a subsidiary, IntegraGen GmbH, in Bonn, Germany, which will provide a testing and counseling service initially to the German market. The GmbH subsidiary is expected to become operational in 2005.
Commenting on this exciting development for the Company, Dr Jan Mous, CEO of IntegraGen said: "IntegraGen intends to become a leader in the field of genetic diagnostics of complex diseases and the provision of a commercial molecular diagnostics lab so early in the Company's development reflects our dedication to that goal. In the first instance, our focus will be on the German market and, once the genetic testing/genetic counseling model has been established, we plan to expand these diagnostic offerings into other European countries."
Maturity onset diabetes of the young is a less common type of diabetes, with a similar profile to type 2 diabetes. MODY usually appears in young adults, typically in people in their 20s and is often unrecognized. Unlike other forms of diabetes, where genetics is only one of several contributory risk factors, MODY is a strongly inherited condition.
Dr Jan Mous added: "Medically, it can be difficult to distinguish between different forms of MODY and other types of diabetes. However, clinically, they should be treated differently. Therefore a better and faster means to diagnose mutations in different MODY genes is needed and this is what we will be able to offer to the medical community, in the first instance, in Germany. "
Correlagen, a molecular diagnostics company, licensed world-wide rights from the University of Chicago to the patent covering the diagnosis of MODY 1 (HNF4A), MODY 3 (HNF1A) and MODY 5 (HNF1B) and has developed MODY gene tests that are being performed in the United States. "By granting rights to IntegraGen to commercialize MODY tests in Europe, Correlagen is furthering its goal of making important gene tests broadly available for clinical practice" said Joyce Samet, Correlagen's Senior Vice President.
On behalf of Correlagen, David Margulies, Correlagen's Chief Executive Officer, said: "We are pleased to have found a European partner with an approach to using clinical diagnostics as a discovery platform that is so complementary to our own."
IntegraGen is focused on developing informative genetic diagnostic tests for several common diseases, including autism and other forms of diabetes. Using its expertise in genetic analysis and unique GenomeHIP technology, the Company is working to identify genes associated with complex diseases. It will then translate this information into the development and commercialisation of further clinically relevant diagnostic tests. The Company plans to have its first in-house developed genetic test for autism on the market in 2006.
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