BioWorld International Correspondent

Epigenomics AG will receive additional up-front and milestone payments from Qiagen N.V. following an extension of an existing agreement originally signed in 2005.

Under the original deal, Venlo, the Netherlands-based Qiagen licensed Epigenomics' technologies for bisulfite treatment of DNA - a step used in DNA methylation analysis - for the research market. The new agreement enables Qiagen to use the same technology in products aimed at the in vitro diagnostics and applied testing markets.

Bisulfite treatment of DNA converts unmethylated cytosine residues into uracil residues, thereby converting DNA methylation information into sequence information, which can be analyzed readily. Epigenomics has developed protocols that improve the efficiency of the bisulfite treatment. Qiagen already incorporated those into its EpiTect Bisulfite Kit, which it launched last year.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but Achim Plum, vice president of corporate communications at Berlin-based Epigenomics, told BioWorld International the deal would make "a significant contribution to the revenues we projected for this year."

The company said earlier this year that its 2007 revenues would be similar to last year's turnover of €3.5 million (US$4.7 million). It posted losses of €15.8 million and exited the year with €17.3 million. Earlier this month, it grossed €4.9 million in a private placing, and Plum said Tuesday that it received authorization from shareholders to increase its registered share capital by up to 50 percent.

The company plans to raise cash later this year, since its current funding will only take it into 2008. It encountered a setback late last year when the Roche Diagnostics arm of F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. was exiting their four-year alliance to develop molecular diagnostic products for colorectal, prostate and breast cancer screening based on Epigenomics' knowledge of DNA methylation patterns in disease.

The company is seeking replacement partners for those programs and, Plum said, is "well on track" to conclude at least one deal later this year.