Exiqon A/S announced that it furthered its collaboration with Proligo LLC (Boulder, Colorado) to supply Locked Nucleic Acid ("LNA") containing oligonucleotides for research and product development use worldwide.

Both companies will work together to establish LNA technology as the standard in processing of genetic information with synthetic probes. LNA technology is used to create systems for the rapid and highly sensitive detection and analysis of genomic and expression arrays, genetic variations such as SNPs, improved performance in PCR, sequence-specific sample preparation, and other nucleic acid-based methods used in the field of DNA diagnostics and genetic research.

"While Exiqon will continue to explore and optimize new uses of LNA and offer these to our commercial licensing partners, Proligo's position as a premier supplier of nucleic acid products worldwide provides an optimal basis for providing new customers easy access to LNA, as well as providing dependable long-term supply of LNA oligonucleotide products to support large-scale commercial applications," says Mikael 0rum, president and CEO of Exiqon A/S.

According to Wolfgang Pieken, president and CEO of Proligo LLC: "We are convinced that the LNA technology can significantly advance the product development and commercialization efforts of our genomics and genetic medicines customers. LNA dramatically increases the performance of not only diagnostic assays that probe and evaluate genetic information, but also looks promising for the enhancement of antisense drugs and other genetic medicine approaches.

In addition, LNA's unprecedented hybridization affinity and specificity effectively enables the digital read-out of DNA-based assays, offering an important improvement as genetic chemistries move to meet the physical tolerances of the microchip industry."