Overview

Amaxa GmbH, named after the ancient Greek word for vehicle, focuses on the development, production and international marketing of gene transfer technologies, and adopts these technologies to clinical applications. Based in Cologne, Germany, Amaxa was founded in 1998 and currently has a staff of 55.

Amaxa uses its transfection platform, Nucleofector, in the nonviral gene transfer directly into the nucleus of primary cells and cell lines. This provides rapid target gene validation, accelerates the development of medical drugs and offers new applications for gene therapy.

The Nucleofector technology is based on the long-known method of electroporation, and has the ability to transfer the DNA directly into the cell’s nucleus independently of cell division. This results in high gene transfer efficiencies even in nondividing primary cells and hard-to-transfect cell lines. It is the combination of specific electrical parameters, delivered by the Nucleofector device, and the cell-type specific Nucleofector Kits that allows nuclear gene transfer.