Overview

CombiMatrix Corp., a majority-owned subsidiary of Acacia Research Corp., is developing its CBMX platform technology, allowing the company to rapidly produce customizable active biochips, which are semiconductor-based tools for use in identifying and determining the physiological functions of genes, gene mutations and proteins.

The platform is designed to facilitate genomic and proteomic analysis for use in pharmaceutical product drug discovery and development, with the intention to market its products to the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical diagnostic and academic communities.

In October 2001, CombiMatrix announced a joint venture with Marubeni Japan. The joint venture, based in Tokyo, will focus on development and licensing opportunities for CombiMatrix’s biochip technology with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in the Japanese market. Marubeni has provided the funding for the operations and management team by acquiring a minority interest in the joint venture.

Partners

Partners include the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the U.S. Department of Defense, Marubeni Japan and Roche Diagnostics.