Covalys Biosciences and Cisbio International Announce Collaboration to Combine SNAP-tag™ and HTRF® Technologies
Covalys Biosciences AG and Cisbio international today announced a collaboration to develop products combining Covalys’ SNAP-tag protein labeling system with Cisbio’s homogeneous time resolved fluorescence (HTRF®) technology.
Witterswil, Switzerland and Bagnols-sur-Cèze, France (PRWEB via PR Web Direct) February 23, 2005 --
Covalys Biosciences AG and Cisbio international today announced a collaboration
to develop products combining Covalys’ SNAP-tag protein labeling system with
Cisbio’s homogeneous time resolved fluorescence (HTRF®) technology. These
products will enable HTRF users to take advantage of the novel protein labeling
technology enabled by the SNAP-tag.
Cisbio’s homogenous time-resolved
fluorescence (HTRF®) system is a highly sensitive, robust technology for the
detection of molecular interactions of proteins in vitro. It is widely used by
the pharmaceutical industry for the high-throughput screening (HTS) stage of
drug development. The SNAP-tag is an intelligent self-labeling protein tag which
covalently links chemical probes to proteins of interest without prior
purification. Under the agreement, Covalys receives the right to develop and
sell SNAP-tag substrates containing Cisbio’s long-lifetime fluorophores
(cryptates) which are essential for the development of HTRF® assays. SNAP-tag’s
ability to label proteins without prior purification means that the resulting
products will enable faster and simpler labeling of proteins with cryptates.
"By including Cisbio international’s well-known cryptates into our
selection of SNAP-tag substrates we can expand our product portfolio in an area
that is important to the High Throughput Screening world," said Dr Christoph
Bieri, Covalys’ CEO. "We believe that our SNAP-tag technology can help to
further enhance the utility of the powerful HTRF® technology."
"SNAP-tag
represents a smart alternative to conventional chemical labeling and perfectly
combines with the streamlined assay development procedures which HTRF® already
offers to its customers," said Berthold Baldus, Managing Director of Cisbio In
Vitro Technologies.
Covalys already offers a broad range of products to
fluorescently label proteins using the SNAP-tag, both for live cell imaging and
for protein-protein interaction assays in solution. The first products
containing SNAP-tag substrate with Cisbio international’s cryptate are under
development and will be made commercially available by Covalys during the second
quarter of 2005.
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: www.covalys.com
About
Cisbio international:
Cisbio international is an established developer of
technologies that are used in assay development and drug screening procedures to
enhance drug discovery. The company is also a pioneer in the field of homogenous
fluorescence methodologies via its proprietary technology, HTRF®, and produces a
selection of biological reagents and methods used by pharmaceutical and
biotechnology companies, as well as contract research organizations (CROs). In
addition, Cisbio international develops, manufactures and markets antibody-based
diagnostic assays for the quantification of tumor markers and other biomarkers
in clinical biology. For more information about Cisbio international and HTRF®,
log onto www.htrf-assays.com
Trademarks: SNAP-tag is a
registered trademark of Covalys Biosciences AG. HTRF® is a registered trademark
of Cisbio international.
Media Contact:
Tom Gibbs
Covalys
Biosciences AG
Phone +41 (0)61 725 20 50
e-mail
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Colette Ballou
Ballou
PR/Cisbio international
Phone +33 (0)1 42 22 24 10
e-mail protected from spam bots
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/2/prweb211964.htm