Epitome Biosystems Initiates Second Partnership With EMD Chemicals For Commercial Products
Waltham, MA - Epitome Biosystems announced recently a second licensing and development agreement with EMD Chemicals Inc., an affiliate of Merck KGaA of Germany, using Epitome's EpiTag technology. The partnership will focus on developing EpiTag assays for the quantitative measurement of various targets, including membrane proteins. Products will be manufactured, marketed and sold worldwide for research applications by EMD through its well-known Novagen brand. Sample analysis will be available as a service from Epitome. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
"Due to the performance and capabilities of the EpiTag technology we intend to expand our list of EpiTag assays, to include demanding and interesting targets," said Graham Scott, Ph.D., Senior Director Novagen, EMD. "EpiTag multiplex assays for measuring total protein and phosphorylation levels, resulting from our previous collaboration with Epitome, are nearing launch."
"This new program with EMD strengthens our commercialization activities and expands the overall arsenal of EpiTag-based assays that will be on the market," said Neal Gordon, Ph.D., President, Epitome Biosystems. "Developing assays for these targets will further demonstrate the breadth of our protein measurement capabilities. We are delighted to partner with EMD's extensive sales and marketing expertise and worldwide distribution networks to bring these measurement products to a broad, research and development market."
Epitome's EpiTag technology enables the reliable and efficient development of assays for the quantitative measurement of proteins in "sandwich" immunoassay formats. The technology is flexible and has been incorporated into arrays for broad profiling of cell signaling events, as well as in other products for highly quantitative protein measurements in multiplex formats. The sandwich immunoassay format offers highly specific and sensitive protein measurements but these assays are often difficult to develop and are limited in availability. Epitome's approach overcomes these limitations and facilitates rapid assay development and targeting of novel protein measurements.
SOURCE: Epitome Biosystems