Enzo Biochem to Enter Cytogenetics Market with Single Copy DNA Probes

NEW YORK, May 24 (GenomeWeb News) - Enzo Biochem signed a licensing agreement with Missouri-based Children's Mercy Hospitals & Clinics for cytogenetics technology, the company announced yesterday.

Terms of the deal call for Enzo to receive technology involving the application and combination of fluorescence in situ hybridization with human genome sequence information, along with rights to any future related patents. The agreement also gave Enzo rights to approximately 50 DNA probes developed at the University.

The agreement allows Enzo to enter the cytogenetics market by producing newly patented single copy DNA probes that can identify the minutest DNA. Enzo will produce the probes in its manufacturing facility in New York and market them worldwide, the company said.

The company will combine the probes with its signal amiplification technologies, which will improve visualization levels. Unlike commercially produced DNA probes, which are limited to primarily examining large sections of DNA, single copy DNA probes offer a specificity in hybridizing genetic chromosomes.

Financial details were not disclosed.