Ingenium Pharmaceuticals AG has obtained a license from Incyte Genomics Inc under patents directed to animal genetic modification, the company announced today. This license allows Ingenium increased freedom to provide its INGENOtyping technology in the United States. INGENOtyping is a novel method for producing murine models with subtle gene alterations for use in drug discovery and development.

"With this license, Ingenium is operationally ready to provide INGENOtyping models to pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions in the US," commented Michael C. Nehls, Chief Executive Officer of Ingenium. "The value of INGENOtyping is in the breadth of information these models offer. In less than four months INGENOtyping can produce a series of murine models, including knockouts and models with increased or reduced gene activity.We believe this provides a significant benefit in addition to the value of murine knockout models in drug discovery, target validation and drug development."

Ingenium's INGENOtyping technology is a high-speed second-generation tool for the in vivo validation of drug targets. INGENOtyping rapidly provides 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. Ingenium's 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 F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. 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.