PREMIER Biosoft and PamGene International B.V. form an alliance.

Palo Alto, California — February 2007. PREMIER Biosoft International, a leading bioinformatics company, and PamGene International B.V., owner of patented technologies for second-generation microarray products, have come together to develop a software tool to design custom oligos for use in MLPA® based assays.

Multiplex Ligation-dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA®) is a method for assessing tens to hundreds of gene copy number changes, single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), insertions and deletions and methylation markers in genomic DNA in a single reaction tube. PamGene’s microarray platform detects and quantifies all these MLPA® amplified products with a single array using its flow-through PamChip® microarrays and PamStation® systems.

The alliance will help MLPA® users design custom oligos for use with PamGene's microarrays. Currently, such a tool is not available to the users. "I see great synergies between the two companies. I look forward to working with PamGene to develop such an innovative product", commented Kay Brown, V.P. Business Development and Marketing of PREMIER Biosoft. Rinie van Beuningen, V.P. Business Development, PamGene International added, “With this software tool we are enabling researchers to quickly develop new multiplex genomic assays for use in research and diagnostics”.

About PREMIER Biosoft International:
Founded in 1994, the company is a group of computer scientists and molecular biologists dedicated to producing cutting-edge intuitive software for the molecular biologist. The goal of the company is to study the most recent innovations in molecular biology and translate them into software products that aid biologists. Additional information about PREMIER Biosoft International is available at http://www.PremierBiosoft.com.

About PamGene International
PamGene is a European biotechnology company that owns patented technologies for second-generation microarray products including an innovative transcription profiling system. Its array-based MLPA application, based on Jan Schouten’s discovery in 2002 and using reagents provided by MRC-Holland, accelerates a number of genomic assays. PamGene’s technology and products are for use in pharma-biotech R&D and production, academic research, non-pharma life sciences and health management testing applications. More information about PamGene International can be found at http://www.pamgene.com/


Contact:
Arun Apte
PREMIER Biosoft International
650-856-2703
http://www.PremierBiosoft.com