NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) — Idaho Technology today said it has licensed PCR-amplification technology from Utah Research Foundation.
Idaho Tech said it has retained exclusive rights to the university’s Patent No. 7,160,998, entitled "Monitoring Amplification with FRET Probes,” which covers real-time PCR amplification kits using two DNA probes labeled with fluorescent molecules.
When these probes are hybridized to specific regions of DNA they create a fluorescent resonance energy transfer, or FRET, according to Idaho Tech.
Idaho Tech said it will use the technology in freeze-dried reagents that detect pathogens on its Ruggedized Advanced Pathogen Identification Device and Roche’s LightCycler instrument.
Financial terms of the license were not released.
On Jan. 5 Idaho Tech licensed PCR patents from Roche that it plans to use in its in vitro diagnostic products.
Six days later the company pocketed $3.5 million from Cephied as part of a settlement and a cross-licensing agreement that resolved a 2005 suit alleging that Cepheid infringed three PCR-related patents.