(Taiwan) Medigen in deal with NZ's Pacific Edge to develop cancer gene discoveries into drugs :: BiotechEast - Taiwan and China biotechnology, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, ^¤å½s×, ^¤å×§ï ::

(BiotechEast staff)

25 August, 2005
New Zealand-based Pacific Edge Biotechnology Ltd yesterday announced a commercial agreement with Taiwan's Medigen Biotechnology Corp that will see Pacific Edge's cancer genes evaluated and developed by Medigen into new cancer drug technology.

According to a press release announcing the agreement, the deal allows for licensing fees, sponsored research payments, milestones and royalties on any drug resulting from research yet to be carried out by Medigen that eventually becomes commercialized. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Pacific Edge Biotechnology is a biomedical company specializing in the discovery and commercialization of diagnostics and prognostics for human cancer. The company combines molecular biology, micro-array technology and proteomics with proprietary access to tissue specimen banks to identify unique gene and protein signatures for targeted cancers.

Taoyuan, Taiwan-based Medigen Biotechnology is a cancer drug development company, focusing on the development of novel therapeutic drugs for the treatment of liver, lung, breast and gastric cancers.

According to Pacific Edge, the agreement is significant as it has been developed from the company's gene database, and is not part of its core product development program, which is the discovery and development of diagnostic and prognostic tools for cancer.

The deal is seen by the company as an early validation of the commercial potential of its tumor gene profiling program. The company's large cancer gene database generated from the gene profiling program forms the cornerstone of the company's diagnostic and prognostic product development.

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