Constance, Germany, 24^th September 2007 – GATC Biotech, Europe’s leading DNA sequencing service provider, announced today that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, and the National University of Pusan and biotech company Gene In Corporation, Ltd, both in South Korea. GATC Biotech is the Coordinating Partner of the collaboration, which aims to develop a comprehensive DNA microarray-based diagnostic test able to detect both bacterial and fungal sepsis-triggering pathogens. The project is partially funded by the Federal Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Technology in Germany. 

Infectious diseases, after cardiovascular diseases, are the most frequent cause of deaths in the world (WHO, 1999). Approximately 18 million cases of sepsis occur world-wide per year. The mortality rate for sepsis is 28-50%, and the associated costs are estimated at €7.6 billion. Quick and precise diagnosis of sepsis is crucial to the success of a course of a therapy. Current diagnostic processes rely on time-consuming cultivation of pathogenic microbes. The DNA microarray-based diagnostic under development will enable the immediate detection of organism-specific nucleic acid sequences, offering the advantage of reducing the time between sample collection and diagnosis, leading to a reduction in mortality rates. 

The project is one of several that connect GATC Biotech’s DNA analysis expertise with demanding medical conditions. Additional projects that GATC Biotech is contributing to include CONSERT (Concerted Safety and Efficiency Evaluation of Retroviral Transgenesis for Gene Therapy of Inherited Diseases), XENOME (detection of retroviral elements in the porcine genome), and EURESFUN (integrated post-genomic approaches for the understanding, detection and prevention of antifungal drug resistance in fungal pathogens). The Company collaborates with the Fraunhofer Institute on EURESFUN, and also partnered with the Institute on the successfully completed project IDENTIGENE (development and validation of new suitable technologies for gene expression studies to identify functional candidate genes without the use of specific DNA probes).

Peter Pohl, CEO of GATC Biotech, commented: “We are delighted to be taking part in this collaboration. With nearly two decades of experience in genetic analysis, GATC Biotech is ideally positioned to contribute to research projects relating to human health. The clinical diagnostics field is still dominated by classic microbial procedures, involving the time-consuming cultivation of pathogenic germs. The successful development of a DNA-based diagnostic will reduce the time between sample collection and diagnosis, and will represent a huge step towards increasing survival rates for patients.”

Notes to editors:

About GATC Biotech:

With more than 17 years' experience, GATC Biotech (www.gatc-biotech.com) is a leading provider of DNA sequencing services and bioinformatics software for industry and academia worldwide. GATC Biotech offers complete sequencing solutions, from sample prep to high throughput genome sequencing and bioinformatics. It is the only company in Europe that uses all three leading high throughput sequencing technologies, the ABI 3730XL™, Illumina Genome Analyzer™ and Roche GS FLX™, providing the flexibility to tailor programs to meet customer requirements. A SOLiD™ sequencing system from Applied Biosystems will complement the scope of next generation sequencing technologies in autum 2007. The sequencing services are complemented by a range of innovative bioinformatics software including Lasergene™ (DNA sequence analysis software) by DNASTAR Inc., ePath3D™ (3D pathway drawing tool) by Protein Lounge, Mutation Surveyor™/Mutation Explorer™ (DNA variant analysis software) and GeneMarker™ (Software for AFLP and genotyping) by SoftGenetics, as well as ERGO™ (genome analysis suite) by Integrated Genomics.

Headquartered in Constance, Germany, GATC Biotech has close to 60 employees and serves over 10,000 customers in 40 countries. The company has subsidiaries in France and the UK, as well as offices in the UK, Germany and Switzerland. GATC Biotech is privately owned and has been ISO-certified since 1997.