Geneart AG, global leader in gene synthesis and specialist in the field of Synthetic Biology, announced that European Patent Office has granted patent for EP 1913140 titled "Verfahren für die kontinuierliche, zielgerichtete Evolution von Proteinen in vitro" (Method for carrying out the selective evolution of proteins in vitro).

The patent protects a procedure for the selective identification of improved protein variants (so-called "evolution") in Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany. The German patent of this family of patents had been granted as early as 2007. An application for a comparable protection for North America has been filed under the international patent process.

The patent constitutes the basis for a proprietary technology platform, which allows to significantly improve the efficiency and activity of protein-based therapeutics, vaccines and industrial enzymes. The new technology relies on a continuous one-step process where the generation and screening of protein variants run virtually simultaneously. The procedure allows identifying optimal variants of a protein from a considerably larger pool much quicker than with conventional multi-stage processes. Therefore, this procedure increases the probability of identifying the ideal protein variant, for example a strong-binding antibody for cancer therapy.

"We have reached another milestone for the extension of our proprietary technology portfolio in the field of Gene Evolution by being granted the European patent. It is our stated goal to not only offer our customers gene variants and gene libraries for screening experiments but, with the successful completion of this project, to also deliver the improved protein over the mid-term", explained Prof. Dr. Ralf Wagner, CEO of Geneart AG.

Geneart is one of the leading specialists in the Synthetic Biology field. Experts at Geneart provide key technologies for the development and production of new therapeutics and vaccines.