Basel, 2000/07/12

The biopharmaceutical company MediGene, Martinsried, quoted at the Frankfurt Neuer Markt (MDG), intends to remain in the top ranking in drug development and in the run on patents in future as well. This is the reason why MediGene Data cooperates with the Swiss bioinformatics company Genedata AG which is specialized in the analysis of genetic data.

"The agreement allows MediGene a rapid and thorough use of the gene data generated in our labs" says Dr. Peter Heinrich, CEO of MediGene AG. During the past few weeks MediGene succeeded in raising the number of possible new targets to over 200. This means a doubling." The amounts of data raised while searching for genes causing heart disease shall be evaluated additionally with the software and the know-how of Genedata in even less time. This means an important addition to the unique technology platform ITD, which is specialized in finding and analyzing genes causing heart disease.

"Besides the use of software designed especially for our needs, the cooperation allows us to securely access a great variety of databases. The tools of Genedata are the most versatile on the market. As first tests revealed we obtained additional targets for our drug development", says Heinrich.

Dr. Othmar Pfannes, CEO of Genedata AG, states: "Besides the successful cooperation with several big pharmaceuticals companies world-wide we are especially glad that with MediGene we found one of the most prominent German biotechnology companies as a partner. We are expecting a very productive and intensive cooperation."

The cooperation between the two companies rests on two pillars. Using the software system Workbench, MediGene will on the one hand obtain a secure access to all the important gene data bases as well as a multitude of specialised software tools. These tools allow MediGene to analyze gene sequences and to make first predictions about the gene function. Additionally the software will be adapted to the special needs of MediGene and will be further developed in close cooperation.

On the other hand MediGene obtains access to Expressionist, a highly specialized system which allows the evaluation of gene expression data. These data reflect different activities of genes in healthy and diseased tissue.

Potentially interesting gene sequences found by the bioinformatics analysis are investigated for their function in the next step. The last phase of the search for suitable drug targets is the evaluation of the genes with regard to their influence on the course of disease (validation). Therefore MediGene applies specially developed cell and organ models ("in vitro heart").