Enzo Biochem, Inc. (NYSE:ENZ) announced today a co-marketing partnership
between its Enzo Life Sciences subsidiary, a world leader in
non-radioactive probe technology, and BioTek Instruments, a privately
held global leader in the development, manufacture and sale of
microplate instrumentation for drug discovery and life science
applications, involving powerful, integrated solutions for high
throughput live cell analysis.
Aimed at research institutions, as well as biotechnology and
pharmaceutical companies, this reagents-instrumentation collaboration
creates a highly reproducible and reliable platform for live cell
analysis, offering a cost effective alternative to dedicated microplate
imaging-based systems, which often are too costly for investigators to
implement.
The collaboration will be formally launched next month at MipTec 2009 in
Basel, Switzerland with the presentation of the scientific poster,
entitled "A cost-effective workflow for high-throughput screening of
G-Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCRs).” The poster details the use of
Enzo’s new FluoForte™ Calcium Assay Kit for monitoring intracellular
calcium mobilization with BioTek’s Synergy™ Mx Monochromator-based
Multi-Mode Microplate Reader.
Drugs targeting GPCRs represent the core of modern medicine, accounting
for the majority of the best-selling drugs and roughly 40% of all
prescription pharmaceuticals on the market today. Using BioTek’s
Precision™ XS Automated Sample Processor for all dispensing steps in
conjunction with Enzo’s proprietary calcium indicator dye technology and
Synergy Mx Microplate Reader provides a small-scale, cost effective,
automated cell-based screening approach for identifying GPCR agonists
and antagonists. The described assay workflow provides low
sample-to-sample variability and excellent assay performance in a
miniaturized format.
"Through this collaboration, researchers will be able to obtain
integrated instrumentation and reagent solutions that are
high-performance, yet affordable," said Wayne Patton, PhD, Chief
Scientific Officer for Enzo Life Sciences. "The collaboration will
provide validated turn-key solutions to the research community.”
"Previously, a major source of frustration for many researchers has been
that selected assays were not compatible with a particular instrument
and vice-versa,” said Peter Banks, PhD, Scientific Director for BioTek
Instruments. "Our companies each provide key expertise and capabilities
in the live-cell analysis arena bringing together BioTek's capabilities
in microplate and dispensing technology that matches perfectly with
Enzo’s cutting-edge live cell analysis reagents and kits."
About Enzo
Enzo Biochem is engaged in the research, development, manufacture and
licensing of innovative health care products and technologies based on
molecular biology and genetic engineering techniques, and in providing
diagnostic services to the medical community. Enzo’s Life Sciences
division develops, produces and markets proprietary labeling and
detection products for gene sequencing, genetic analysis and
immunological research among others. Its catalog of over 30,000 products
serves the molecular biology, drug discovery and pathology research
markets. The Company's therapeutic division is in various stages of
clinical evaluation of its proprietary immune regulation medicines for
uveitis and Crohn's disease and conducts pre-clinical research on
several candidate compounds aimed at producing new mineral and organic
bone, including technology that could provide therapy for osteoporosis
and fractures, among other applications. Enzo’s Clinical Labs division
provides routine and esoteric reference laboratory services for
physicians in the New York Metropolitan and New Jersey areas.
Underpinning the Company’s technology and operations is an extensive
intellectual property estate in which Enzo owns or licenses over 240
patents worldwide, and has pending applications for over 200 more. For
more information visit our website www.enzo.com.
About BioTek Instruments
BioTek Instruments, Inc., headquartered in Winooski, VT, USA, is a
worldwide leader in the design, manufacture, and sale of microplate
instrumentation and software. The company has distribution in over 70
countries and an installed base of 75,000 instruments. BioTek
instrumentation is used to aid in the advancement of life science
research, facilitate the drug discovery process and to enable
cost-effective quantification of disease relevant molecules in the
clinic.
Safe Harbor Statement
Except for historical information, the matters discussed in this news
release may be considered "forward-looking" statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such
statements include declarations regarding the intent, belief or current
expectations of the Company and its management. Investors are cautioned
that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future
performance and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could
materially affect actual results. The Company disclaims any obligations
to update any forward-looking statement as a result of developments
occurring after the date of this press release.