A Medical Device Daily
Stratagene (La Jolla, California), a marketer of life science research and diagnostics products, reported entering into a joint development and license agreement with Rosetta Inpharmatics (Kirkland, Washington), a subsidiary of Merck & Co. (Whitehouse Station, New Jersey), to create an automated solution for the isolation of nucleic acids from a variety of clinical samples.
Nucleic acid purification allows researchers to separate RNA contained in biological samples, using the purified RNA to perform gene expression analysis and other functions within molecular diagnostics.
Stratagene and Rosetta will develop an instrument and a single-use consumable that will be made and sold to Stratagene's current customers engaged in pharmacogenomics. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Joseph Sorge, MD, president and CEO of Stratagene, said, “We believe we have a unique opportunity to create and introduce a differentiated product that will automate the RNA purification process and provide consistent, reproducible results. These two characteristics are critical capabilities in gene expression analysis.”
Stratagene's life science research unit supports advances in science by manufacturing products used throughout the academic, industrial and government research sectors in fields spanning molecular biology, genomics, proteomics, drug discovery and toxicology.
In other agreements:
• Broadlane (Dallas) reported that Tulare District HealthCare System (Tulare, California), a healthcare provider serving the city of Tulare and surrounding communities in California's Central Valley, selected Broadlane to provide group purchasing services under an exclusive five-year agreement. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The services provided will include sourcing and contracting for a range of consumable supplies and equipment, pharmaceuticals and purchased services. In addition, Broadlane will provide technology services that include use of Broadlane's e-commerce exchange, BroadLink, which will be integrated into the health system's material management information system.
Broadlane has developed an integrated e-commerce exchange that allows its clients to connect directly to their suppliers. Reports generated by BroadLink will give Tulare District HealthCare System new insights into its procurement activities, it said.
Broadlane has additional offices in California, New York and Ohio.
• Acacia Research (Newport Beach, California) reported that its CombiMatrix group (Mukilteo, Washington) has begun work on a two-year, $1.9 million contract with the Army Research Office. Funding from this contract focuses on the integration of CombiMatrix's microarray and lab-on-a-chip technology for military and homeland security uses.
Dr. Robin Liu, the principal investigator of this contract, said, “Under this contract, we will expand the capabilities of our microfluidic lab-on-a-chip technology which we have integrated with our microarray platform and electrochemical detection. Our goal is to complete development of a self-contained, miniature device that will perform rapid multiplexed nucleic acid amplification and microarray detection in an automated instrument.”
CombiMatrix's programs with the U.S. government are focused on instrument development along with assays that take advantage of its microarray for multiplexed identification of biothreat agents and other infectious agents.