Stratagene and Rosetta Inpharmatics Announce Alliance

(La Jolla, CA, USA) and Rosetta Inpharmatics, LLC (Seattle, WA, USA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc., have entered into a joint development-and-license agreement. The companies will develop an RNA purification system for use in molecular diagnostics and research applications.

Under the terms of the agreement, Stratagene and Rosetta will jointly develop a proprietary instrument and a single-use consumable that will be manufactured and commercialized by Stratagene. These products will be sold to Stratagene's current customer base and companies engaged in pharmacogenomics. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The companies plan to create an automated solution for the isolation of nucleic acids from a variety of clinical samples. Nucleic acid purification allows scientists to separate RNA contained in biologic samples. Clinicians and researchers can use the purified RNA to perform gene expression analysis and other functions within molecular diagnostics.

"This agreement with Rosetta Inpharmatics is a significant opportunity for Stratagene and marks another milestone in our molecular diagnostics strategy,” said Joseph A. Sorge, M.D., president and CEO of Stratagene. "We believe we have a unique opportunity to create and introduce a differentiated product that will automate the RNA purification process and provide consistent, reproducible results. These two characteristics are critical capabilities in gene expression analysis.”

Stratagene is a developer, manufacturer, and marketer of specialized life science research and diagnostic products. The company's diagnostic unit develops and manufactures products for urinalysis as well as automated instruments and reagent systems that use blood samples to test for more than 1,000 different allergies and autoimmune disorders. In addition, by combining its expertise in diagnostics and molecular biology, the company is pursuing opportunities to expand its product portfolio to include molecular diagnostic kits and instrumentation.



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