Japanese patent covering SAGE technology granted.(Serial Analysis of Gene Expression)

2002 NOV 13 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Genzyme Molecular Oncology (GZMO) announced that the Japanese Patent Office has issued Patent No. 3334806 covering its powerful SAGE technology.

The patent covers the methodology by which SAGE (Serial Analysis of Gene Expression) identifies and measures gene expression.

SAGE is a high-efficiency method of comprehensively identifying and quantifying genes expressed in a tissue or cell line. It is being used by Genzyme Molecular Oncology in a wide variety of applications such as identifying novel tumor antigens and angiogenesis targets, analyzing the effects of drugs on human tissue, and gaining insight into disease pathways. To date, Genzyme Molecular Oncology has generated a database of more than 6 million tags believed to represent in excess of 125,000 unique transcripts from major cancers and normal tissues.

"This patent confirms the uniqueness of SAGE in the identification and measurement of gene expression," said Gail Maderis, Genzyme Molecular Oncology. "SAGE is a powerful technology that has the ability to expand the discovery of therapeutic targets, reduce development time, and improve competitiveness for both our own and our customers' product development efforts."

SAGE is currently comarketed in Japan by Genzyme Molecular Oncology and Invitrogen (IVGN). It also is being used by several Japanese academic groups resulting in numerous publications.