Biosite Incorporated, a leading provider of novel, rapid medical diagnostics announced that they have entered into a discovery collaboration with Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. under which Biosite intends to develop Omniclonal antibodies for targets provided by Amylin.

Under the agreement, Biosite will receive development fees from Amylin for work on target-specific antibodies. Biosite will also receive certain exclusive diagnostic licenses to the selected targets provided by Amylin. Biosite will pay Amylin royalties for diagnostic products that Biosite commercializes and that are covered by Biosite's licenses under the agreement.

"Amylin is recognized as a successful innovator and leader in the development of potential treatments for diabetes and other metabolic diseases," said Kim Blickenstaff, president and CEO of Biosite. "We are pleased to work with Amylin in this collaboration, which will enable us to research targets that may have promising potential."

Biosite's proprietary marker mining process combines mice immunization and phage display to generate highly diverse libraries of Omniclonal antibodies with high affinity and low cross-reactivity. Validated targets, otherwise known as diagnostic markers, are then assessed for commercialization potential, with high-value markers or panels of markers added to Biosite's product development process.