Ingenium Pharmaceuticals AG and the Molecular Genetics Laboratory of the University Eye Hospital of Tuebingen announced a collaboration in which Ingenium will develop, using its INGENOtyping technology platform, animal models with defined gene alterations. The focus of the collaboration will be genes relating to eye diseases. No financial terms were disclosed.

"Our research focuses on the elucidation of the pathophysiology of ocular neuropathies, such as glaucoma, by targeting genes that are known to be implicated in these diseases," commented Professor Bernd Wissinger, Group Leader at the Molecular Genetics Laboratory of the Tuebingen University Eye Hospital. "The functions of these genes are largely unknown and we hope to use the INGENOtyping models to describe the gene functions and screen for drugs that will be beneficial to treating these disorders in humans."

"INGENOtyping is a tool for many types of discovery and development research, from identifying gene function to providing models to test drugs to treat disease," stated Michael Nehls, Chief Executive and Chief Scientific Officer at Ingenium. "Ingenium is pleased to work with Dr. Wissinger and to provide this tool to his research on treating eye disorders."

Ingenium's INGENOtyping technology is a high-speed second-generation tool for the in vivo validation of drug targets. INGENOtyping can provide in less than four months a series of mammalian models that carry unique genetic alterations in any target gene of interest. These models include knockouts as well as more subtle functional alterations, such as increased and reduced gene target activity. The INGENOtyping technology is based on a genetically subtle chemical process that generates point mutations in genes and Ingenium's expertise in quickly and reliably producing and analyzing mammalian models of disease.

The basis of Ingenium's business is its knowledge and expertise in generating the biological information critical to the discovery, validation and development of therapeutics. Ingenium's biology-based target discovery technology, Deductive Genomics, involves a functional genomics analysis of an entire mammalian genome to locate novel therapeutic entry points to treat disease. From the breadth of knowledge generated by Deductive Genomics, Ingenium is currently advancing a pipeline of novel models and biologically validated drug targets in the areas of obesity, lipid metabolism, neurodegeneration and autoimmune disease. Ingenium has research partnership agreements with Elan Corporation, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Sequenom Inc and Lynkeus BioTech GmbH, in addition to numerous international academic collaborations. The company benefits from funding from premier investors, an experienced management team, top industry advisors and a growing patent portfolio.