WITTERSWIL, Switzerland and HUNTSVILLE, Ala., May 11 /PRNewswire/ --
Covalys Biosciences and Open Biosystems today announced that they have entered
into an agreement under which Open Biosystems will be Covalys' exclusive
distributor for the United States, Canada and Mexico. By adding Covalys'
intracellular and in vitro protein labeling kits to their offering, the
agreement strengthens Open Biosystem's program to expand access to innovative
genomic and proteomic solutions.
Covalys' products allow rapid specific labeling of proteins inside live
cells and in complex mixtures. These products are based on the proprietary
self-labeling SNAP-tag technology and are provided under an open access
license allowing for commercial use of the kits, including fee-for-service
applications. The SNAP-tag technology is therefore an attractive alternative
to fluorescent proteins for cell imaging studies, and will expand the tools
available to biologists to study protein function and interactions.
"We are extremely happy to have Open Biosystems as a partner in North
America," said Christoph Bieri, Covalys' CEO. "Open Biosystems has a strong
reputation for high-level customer support and a deep understanding of the
scientist's need. The two companies' product portfolios are nicely
complementary. Most importantly, we both share the vision of open access to
proprietary technology, in an effort to reduce the burden of onerous licenses
for life science researchers."
"This partnership brings a unique solution to the life science community,"
said Troy Moore, Open Biosystems' CTO. "The world's most complete full-length
gene libraries, coupled with the revolutionary SNAP-tag protein labeling
system, increases the success rate and reduces the time previously necessary
to clone, express and label proteins."
The current agreement covers the distribution of Covalys' product lines by
Open Biosystems; however, the two companies also plan products combining their
respective technologies, most notably Open Biosystems' expression and cloning
systems with Covalys' SNAP-tag protein labeling system.
Media Contact: Media Contact:
Tom Gibbs Troy Moore
Covalys Biosciences AG Open Biosystems, Inc.
Phone +41 (0)61 725 20 50 256-319-1462
tom.gibbs@covalys.com tm@openbiosystems.com
About Covalys Biosciences AG: Covalys provides products that help
researchers in academic institutions and pharmaceutical and biotech companies
to improve the efficiency of research into proteins and their function. Its
SNAP-tag technology is the first commercially available protein tag which
covalently links itself to any chemical probe provided as a substrate.
Covalys' technology is exclusively licensed from the Swiss federal Institute
of Technology Lausanne (EPFL). Founded in June 2002, Covalys has headquarters
in Witterswil, Switzerland. For more information, visit Covalys' website:
http://www.covalys.com .
About Open Biosystems, Inc: Open Biosystems develops, manufactures and
markets genomic research tools to scientist in academic, government and
industrial laboratories. These research tools provide investigators with
standardized high-quality genes, RNAi and antibodies for interrogating gene
function in relation to oncology, neuroscience and metabolic disorders. For
more information, visit Open Biosystems' website:
http://www.openbiosystems.com .
Trademarks: SNAP-tag(TM) is a registered trademark of Covalys Biosciences
AG.
SOURCE Open Biosystems, Inc
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Related links:
http://www.openbiosystems.com
http://www.covalys.com
CONTACT:
Tom Gibbs of Covalys Biosciences,
+41-61-725-20-50, tom.gibbs@covalys.com; Troy Moore of AG Open
Biosystems, Inc., +1-256-319-1462, tm@openbiosystems.com
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