Chimp Genome Sequenced; Jury Finds Stratagene to Infringe on Third Wave IP

An initial draft sequence of the chimpanzee genome was released, published today in the Sept. 1 issue of the journal Nature.

The chimp genome is the first non-human primate genome and the fourth mammalian genome mapped, following human (February 2001), mouse (December 2002), and rat (March 2004).

This is another domino falling in the path of sequencing technology, an expensive and time-intensive multi-institutional effort, but one that provides another large data dump in a growing foundation of genomic information and insight.

The newest genome-mapping shows that human beings and chimpanzees share more than 99 percent sequence identity in genes and proteins, while having accumulated more differences in the rest of their DNA.

[Tags -- Genome, Genomics, Chimp, DNA, Sequencing Technology]

A jury in the Western District of Wisconsin of the US District Court has determined that Stratagene's FullVelocity reagent technology infringes Third Wave US patents No. 6,090,543 and No. 6,348,314 and is deliberating damages.

La Jolla, Calif.-based Stratagene said today that has filed patent infringement actions against Third Wave, a Madison, Wisc.-based spinoff from the University of Wisconsin.

Last month, Third Wave earned FDA approval to market its genetic blood test, the Invader UGT1A1 Molecular Assay, to screen colorectal cancer patients for adverse reaction to the chemotherapy drug Camptosar (irinotecan).

Third Wave’s Invader product line is a series of analyte specific reagents for hemostatis, cardiovascular, and inherited diseases that are marketed to CLIA high complexity laboratories. The company claims accuracy of 99.9 percent for its tests versus the 98.5 percent accuracy of PCR-based tests. The chemistry-based technology consists of oligonucleotides, reagents, and controls.

[Tags – Stratagene, Third Wave, Patents, Intellectual Property, Litigation, FullVelocity, Invader, Wisconsin]

[Editor's note: Today we are implementing a tag system to provide rudimentary meta data on published articles]