Gen-Probe licenses rights to develop genetic translocations test from University of Michigan

By Lisa Kerner

Erie, Pa., May 1 - Gen-Probe Inc. said it has licensed from the University of Michigan the exclusive worldwide rights to develop diagnostic tests for genetic translocations shown to be highly specific for prostate cancer tissue.

Under the agreement, Gen-Probe will pay the University of Michigan an up-front license fee of $0.5 million, royalties on any eventual product sales and development milestones.

Gen-Probe will also fund research at the University of Michigan over the next five years to discover other potential prostate cancer translocations - the fusion of two pieces of DNA in an aberrant fashion.

Research has shown that between 60% and 80% of cancerous prostate tissues contain the translocations, but none have been found in healthy prostate tissue, the company said.

"Gene fusions or translocations have the potential to be exquisitely specific markers for prostate cancer," said Arul Chinnaiyan, professor of pathology at the University of Michigan Medical School, in a company news release.

"In addition to being useful as a specific prostate cancer marker, these gene fusions likely play a role in prostate cancer development and analogous gene fusions may be present in other common solid tumors."

Gen-Probe develops, manufactures and markets nucleic acid tests used primarily to diagnose human diseases and screen donated human blood.

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