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Branford, Connecticut
June 3, 2008
454 Life Sciences, a company of
Roche, today
announced that they will support
Cogenics® a subsidiary of
Clinical Data, Inc., and Limagrain Verneuil Holding (LVH), a
subsidiary of the Limagrain
Group, in the development of solutions enabling large scale
crop SNP discovery projects. Limagrain aims to improve certain
feed crops through the selection and cross breeding of desirable
characteristics that occur in natural variants of each species.
Using the next-generation technology of 454 Sequencing, Cogenics
and 454 Life Sciences will provide a solution for the discovery
of genomic variations enabling the selection procedure. A first
large-scale application will focus on wheat, with additional
crop species to follow.
Cogenics will develop a genome complexity reduction assay, an
experimental approach that selects the same gene-rich portion of
a specific crop genome across multiple variants of the species.
Cogenics will work in close concert with 454 Life Sciences to
sequence a total of 2Gb of the wheat genome on the Genome
Sequencer FLX System.
This is the first and key step of a two-stage process for
identifying the molecular markers that correlate with the
desired characteristics, and will be conducted by a unit of
Cogenics in France. Cogenics believes that it will deploy this
complexity reduction assay for other groups going forward as it
becomes an important part of the solution-oriented services
portfolio of Cogenics. The second stage requires large scale
genotyping and will be managed by Limagrain. With this approach,
the combination of the desired characteristics into new variants
can be significantly accelerated.
“Since Cogenics installed its next-generation 454 System in the
spring of 2007, it has worked with a large number of academic,
biotech, and industrial customers,” said Paul Tomlin, Director
of European Operations at Cogenics. “These customers rely on
Cogenics for its value-based service offerings, particularly in
combination with additional upstream and downstream processing
capabilities. Cogenics has taken the next-generation 454 System,
and in combination with its expertise in genomics services and
informatics, completed enhanced bacterial genome, cDNA, BAC,
small RNA, metagenomics & human mutation discovery projects. The
project with Limagrain and 454 Life Sciences is a textbook
example of the value our team delivers, and we look forward to
helping advance the field of crop-related SNP discovery, which
will enable complete genome analysis of important crop species.”
“Limagrain has been working for several years now with leading
technology providers to apply large scale genotyping as a core
component of its selection process,” said Jean-Pierre Martinant,
head of the Riom, France-based genotyping facility of the
Limagrain Verneuil Holding. “We are excited to deploy next
generation sequencing with Cogenics, and believe that this
approach will significantly enhance our ability to accelerate
the large scale genotyping campaigns required to meet the goals
of this project. This project will further the value we bring to
our clients and we work with Cogenics because of the expertise
and commitment they bring to this area.”
For more information on 454 Sequencing, visit
www.roche-applied-science.com/sis/sequencing.
About Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world’s
leading research-focused healthcare groups in the fields of
pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As the world’s biggest biotech
company and an innovator of products and services for the early
detection, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases, the
Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving
people’s health and quality of life. Roche is the world leader
in in-vitro diagnostics and drugs for cancer and
transplantation, and is a market leader in virology. It is also
active in other major therapeutic areas such as autoimmune
diseases, inflammatory and metabolic disorders and diseases of
the central nervous system. In 2007 sales by the Pharmaceuticals
Division totalled 36.8 billion Swiss francs, and the Diagnostics
Division posted sales of 9.3 billion francs. Roche has R&D
agreements and strategic alliances with numerous partners,
including majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai,
and invested over 8 billion Swiss francs in R&D in 2007.
Worldwide, the Group employs about 79,000 people. Additional
information is available on the Internet at
www.roche.com.
About Cogenics
Cogenics, a division of Clinical Data, offers nearly 20 years of
experience as a trusted provider of the broadest range of
pharmacogenomics and molecular biology services available
globally. Cogenics provides integrated services for nucleic acid
extraction, genotyping, sequencing, QPCR, and gene expression,
as well as serving as a biorepository, for both research and
regulated environments: GLP, cGMP and CLIA. Cogenics combines
operations from the acquisitions of Genaissance Pharmaceuticals,
Lark Technologies (US & UK), Icoria, and Genome Express
(France). Cogenics most recently acquired Epidauros
Biotechnologie AG, of Benried, Germany, adding Epidauros’
expertise in genetic biomarker discovery and fast-growing
pharmacogenomics services business to its portfolio. Customers
of Cogenics include some of the world's most respected
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, agencies of the US
National Institutes of Health, leading government and academic
researchers in the international life science community, and
major agricultural companies and agencies. For more information,
please visit www.cogenics.com.
About Clinical Data, Inc.
Clinical Data, Inc. is a global biotechnology company unlocking
the potential of molecular discovery, From Targeted Science to
Better Healthcare™. Its PGxHealth™ division focuses on
proprietary biomarker and pharmacogenetic test development as
well as targeted therapeutics to help predict drug safety and
efficacy, thereby reducing health care costs and improving
clinical outcomes. Its Cogenics™ division provides genomics
services to both research and regulated environments. Through
these divisions, Clinical Data is leveraging advances in
molecular discovery to provide tangible benefits for patients,
doctors, scientists and health plans worldwide. Visit the
company's website at www.clda.com
for more information.
About Limagrain
Limagrain is a farmers-owned international group specializing in
plant breeding and plant valorization. Based near
Clermont-Ferrand, France, Limagrain, operating through
subsidiaries in more than 30 countries, has revenue of more than
€ 1 billion and spends annually more than € 100 million on
research and development. Through its subsidiary, Vilmorin &
Cie, Limagrain is the 4th largest international seed group.
Vilmorin is the European leader in field seed and a worldwide
leader in vegetable seed and home garden seed products. With
Limagrain Cereal Ingredients, Limagrain is the European leader
for functional cereal flours. With Jacquet, Limagrain is a
leader in the French sliced bread market. Limagrain believes
that partnership is an essential way to increase its long term
development capabilities. For more information, please visit
www.limagrain.com.
454 and 454 Sequencing are trademarks of 454 Life Science
Corporation, Branford, CT, USA, a company of Roche.
All brands or product names are trademarks of their respective
holders.
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