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Swedish biotech
tools company Cellectricon announced today that it has licensed Axon Instruments (Union City, CA) to have sole access to Cellectricon’s patented
electroporation technology.
Under the terms of the agreement, Axon Instruments will incorporate the licensed technology into their new Axoporator
line of products, used for rapid internalization of DNA, drugs and large
molecules into cells. Jakob Lindberg, Cellectricon CEO, explained, “We are thrilled to see Axon
Instruments incorporating our technology, and we see this agreement as the start of
a long-lasting and successful relationship with Axon. The agreement demonstrates
the strength of Cellectricon’s extensive and solid patent portfolio and supports
Cellectricon’s strategy to out-license parts of our intellectual property, as we are
committed to providing high-throughput cell-based assays to our customers.”
The
agreement includes undisclosed license fees and future royalties. Axon Instruments’ CEO Alan Finkel added, “Transfection techniques such as
electroporation are an important part of modern molecular biology, particularly in
stem-cell research and genomics. As these research areas grow they require more
sophisticated transfection tools. The Axoporator instrument targets single cells, and
so can be used for more complex and refined experiments than traditional
electroporators. It is the first of a new generation of transfection products that will
provide researchers unprecedented ability to modify single cells.”
Electroporation is a technique by which DNA, RNA, proteins, dyes, drugs and other
large molecules are inserted directly into cells. An electrical discharge is applied to
the cells to transiently break down the cell membrane, creating small holes called
electropores. An electropore can stay open for several minutes during which time
the molecules pass into the cell. After the electropores close, cells can function
normally. In single-cell electroporation, molecules are introduced to individual,
selected cells. This is important for applications where only a small number of cells
are available, the researcher wants to target specific cells, or when the molecules of
interest are rare and valuable. Cellectricon’s technology makes single-cell
electroporation practical and easy, because it has much higher success rates and
survival rates than traditional electroporation techniques.
Cellectricon AB, (www.cellectricon.com) is a Swedish biotechnology tools
company that develops microfabricated cell-based tools for the pharmaceutical and
biotechnology industries. Cellectricon has successfully launched its first product
DynaflowTM, an ion-channel drug-screening device, which has already been adopted
by major pharmaceutical companies. Cellectricon works at the interface between
microtechnology and biology, inventing products that will allow productivity
increases primarily in the drug discovery process. The company was formed in 2000
based on an extensive and solid patent portfolio within different areas such as highthroughput
electrophysiology, patch clamping, microfluidics, microfabrication, and
electroporation. Cellectricon is a privately held company. The main shareholders
are Investor Growth Capital, Innovationskapital, and Karolinska Investment Fund.
Axon Instruments, Inc., (www.axon.com) located in Union City, California and
Melbourne, Australia, was founded in 1983. It produces a broad spectrum of
instrumentation and software for cellular neurosciences, genomics, and cell-based
screening. In cellular neurosciences and genomics, Axon is widely recognized as
one of the world’s pre-eminent manufacturers of drug discovery instrumentation.
The company’s goal is to produce a range of superior yet affordable instrument and
software systems for drug discovery aimed at the pharmaceutical industry,
biotechnology companies, and academic researchers. Axon Instruments is a
California corporation listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (symbol:
AXN.AX).
Cellectricon AB Axon Instruments
Jakob Lindberg, CEO
Phone: + 46 70 569 5471
jakob.lindberg@cellectricon.se
Al Walter, Product Line Manager
Phone: +1 510 675 6281
alw@axon.com
Susanne Orwar, Communications Manager
Phone: +46 31 760 35 15
susanne.orwar@cellectricon.se
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