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Researcj Triangle Park, North
Carolina
December 12, 2000
Paradigm Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq: PDGM), a functional genomics
company, has announced the discovery and genetic validation of its 100th novel
herbicide target for high-throughput chemical screening. This achievement is a
significant increase over conventional discovery and validation methods. It
was accomplished within the first two years of Paradigm's five-year,
$40 million herbicide discovery partnership with Bayer AG (NYSE:
BAYZ). The most promising of these herbicide targets are converted into
high-throughput chemical screening assays by Paradigm and used by Bayer to identify
new herbicide products.
"Traditionally, companies have discovered and validated herbicide
targets at the rate of about one per year which has limited the speed in
which new herbicide products can be discovered using a target-based approach,"
said John Ryals, Ph. D., Chief Executive Officer and President of
Paradigm Genetics. "At Paradigm, we have used the power of genomics and industrial-scale
gene function determination to improve upon the conventional rate of
herbicide discovery and validation by 100-fold. Our goals are to discover and
validate most of the herbicide targets in Arabidopsis, one of our model plant
organisms, within the term of our herbicide alliance with Bayer, and
to establish a strong intellectual property position on the gene targets
discovered.
"Today's accomplishment demonstrates the potential of the
GeneFunction Factory(TM) to transform industrial research," Ryals added. "We are
optimistic that our work will lead to an enhanced herbicide pipeline
for Bayer and a strong future revenue stream for Paradigm. This is especially
interesting from a commercial perspective because the global herbicide market
is approximately $15 billion annually."
Paradigm's five-year herbicide partnership with Bayer began in
October 1998 with the objective of discovering a portfolio of novel herbicide
products that will be developed and marketed by Bayer. In addition to
research and technical milestone payments, which comprise about $40 million over
the term of the agreement, Paradigm will also receive product development
milestone payments and royalties on sales of any products resulting from the
collaboration.
Bayer is a diversified, international chemicals and health care group, offering a wide variety of products and services from its health
care, agriculture, polymers and chemicals business segments. The company
employs 120,000 employees worldwide. For information related to Bayer's efforts in crop protection,
visit
http://www.baynews.bayer.com/News/news.nsf/ID/NT00007B86 ,
http://www.baynews.bayer.com/News/news.nsf/ID/NT00007B72 ,
and
http://www.baynews.bayer.com/News/news.nsf/ID/NT00007B8E .
Headquartered in Research Triangle Park, NC, Paradigm Genetics, Inc. is industrializing the process of gene function discovery for four major
sectors of the global economy: human health, nutrition, crop production, and
industrial products. The company has designed the GeneFunction Factory(TM) --
an integrated, rapid, industrial-scale laboratory through which it
discovers gene function. Paradigm and its strategic partners intend to develop
novel products using information developed with the GeneFunction
Factory(TM). Paradigm's GeneFunction Factory(TM) is based on a state of the art
phenomics platform integrated with metabolic profiling and gene expression
profiling technologies. The backbone of the GeneFunction Factory(TM) is the
company's proprietary FunctionFinder(TM) bioinformatics system, used to
collect, store, analyze, and retrieve information. For more information visit
www.paragen.com.
GeneFunction Factory(TM) and FunctionFinder(TM) are U.S. trademarks of Paradigm Genetics, Inc.
Company news release
N3186 |
