Cambridge, UK, 8 May 2006: Isogenica Ltd and GE Healthcare today announced that they have entered into a research collabortion for the discovery of novel in vivo diagnostic and medical imaging compounds.

Under the terms of the agreement, Isogenica will use its CIS display technology to select peptide ligands to two undisclosed disease targets to be identified by GE Healthcare. GE Healthcare will then have an option to advance to clinical development any imaging agent resulting from the collaboration; the collaboration will be supervised by a Steering Committee consisting representatives from both companies. 

Isogenica’s CIS display technology provides a novel and effective means of rapidly identifying peptides that bind with high affinity and specificity to any given molecular target. The technology can also be used for enhancing the in vivo performance of peptide therapeutic and diagnostic products.

“We look forward to building a strong and fruitful relationship with GE Healthcare and in assisting them with their in vivo diagnostic and medical imaging activities,” said Dr. Kevin FitzGerald, Isogenica’s CEO. “We believe that because of their rapid in vivo distribution along with their prompt serum clearance, peptides, and especially those discovered and matured using Isogenica’s CIS display technology, represent a very rich source of compounds for in vivo diagnostic and medical imaging applications.”

GE Healthcare is committed to personalized healthcare and actively collaborates with innovative research-oriented biopharmaceutical companies and leading academic centres. “Isogenica’s proprietary technology may allow us to identify novel imaging agents for the early diagnosis of disease, thereby allowing physicians to prescribe the right dose of the right drug at the right time to the right patient.” said Dr. Marivi Mendizabal, Head of Research in GE Healthcare, Medical Diagnostics.

The parties have agreed not to disclose any further details of the R&D agreement. 

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For more information contact: 

Isogenica Ltd Kevin FitzGerald, PhD MBA Chief Executive Officer Tel: +44 (0) 1223 496720 Email: kevin.fitzgerald@isogenica.com	GE Healthcare Kristin Silady PR Manager Tel: +1 732 322 4452 E-mail: kristin.silady@ge.com
Northbank Communications Katja Stout/Gemma Bradley                            Tel : +44 (0)20 7886 7555 E-mail: g.bradley@northbankcommunications.com

Notes to editors:  

Isogenica was formed in December 2000 to develop and commercialize innovative in vitro molecular evolution technologies. The company has its research facility at the Babraham Research Campus, Cambridge UK.

Isogenica’s core technology, CIS display, can be applied to the discovery of new antibody, peptide and polypeptide drug candidates, to the discovery of high specificity diagnostic compounds and to the isolation of target validation and other research reagents, purification reagents and environmental detection reagents. 

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, and biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies is helping clinicians around the world re-imagine new ways to predict, diagnose, inform and treat disease, so their patients can live their lives to the fullest.  

GE Healthcare's broad range of products and services enable healthcare providers to better diagnose and treat cancer, heart disease, neurological diseases, and other conditions earlier. Our vision for the future is to enable a new "early health" model of care focused on earlier diagnosis, pre-symptomatic disease detection and disease prevention. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $15 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 43,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit www.gehealthcare.com