Oxford, UK, August 1st, 2006 - Oxford Gene Technology (OGT) is pleased to announce the conclusion of a Japanese licensing agreement giving NGK Insulators Ltd. access to OGT’s “Southern array patents”, the fundamental patents covering the manufacture and marketing of oligonucleotide microarrays. NGK has also been granted the rights to manufacture OEM microarrays for sale in Japan. All NGK manufactured microarrays can by used by its customers in a service business.     

NGK will manufacture NGK branded and NGK OEM manufactured arrays using a proprietary technology GENESHOT®, a device which uses novel piezoelectric ceramic microactuators for printing DNA microarrays with high precision and reliability.           

Dr Michael Bennett, Vice President Licensing Asia, at OGT said: “OGT have been working to successfully conclude license agreements with several Japanese companies. The deal with NGK Insulators Ltd. involves the purchase of OEM rights, the only Japanese microarray company to do so.”   
 
The licence will remain valid for the patents’ lifetime. Financial details were not disclosed.           

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For further information, please contact:  

At Oxford Gene Technology:

Dr Michael Bennett, Vice President Licensing Asia

Oxford Gene Technology
Begbroke Science Park,
Sandy Lane, Yarnton
Oxford OX5 1PF

T: +44 1865 842603
F: +44 1865 848684
E: licensing@ogt.co.uk

W: www.ogt.co.uk

Media Enquiries:

Annabel Entress, 0207 886 8150 / a.entress@northbankcommunications.com

Sarah Jeffery, 0207 886 8150 / s.jeffery@northbankcommunications.com

Notes to editors

About Oxford Gene Technology

• Founded in 1995 by the pioneer of Southern Blotting, Professor Sir Edwin Southern, OGT operates out of Begbroke Business Park near Oxford, with excellent access to a growing network of life science companies

·     OGT offers a comprehensive custom microarray consultancy service, from experimental design through all stages to data analysis and interpretation. It has a strong proven track record in providing custom microarray service in a range of applications, and recently announced the launch of its first microarray product, an Escherichia coli K12 ChIP on chip, the first ChIP microarray product to be launched as part of  OGT’s Prokaryotic Chip² family

The key focus areas of OGT include:

1.         Array-based application products and services for life science research and molecular diagnostics. OGT’s flexible and cost-effective, customised DNA microarray service covers a range of applications, offering specialist support and assisting customers with every aspect of their research, from initial consultation and experimental design to probe selection, array design and fabrication through to data analysis and interpretation

2.         Development of innovative platform products for clinical research and diagnostics

3.         Licensing. OGT operates an open licensing policy which has successfully provided access for a number of companies to OGT's fundamental intellectual property, particularly in the area of microarrays

4.         Scientific collaborations to generate diagnostic biomarker intellectual property

For further information on OGT visit http://www.ogt.co.uk/

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