Biosearch Technologies, UMDNJ Stellaris® Probe Alliance - NextGen Gene Expression™, SNP FISH™, and iceFISH™ in Research and Clinical Applications

NOVATO, CA (Monday, March 18th, 2013) – Biosearch Technologies, Inc. (Biosearch), a leading supplier of sophisticated oligonucleotide components to the rapidly growing molecular diagnostics industry, today announced that the company has acquired exclusive worldwide rights to continuing Stellaris® RNA FISH based inventions from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). In addition to single molecule detection of mRNA, lncRNA, and viral RNAs, Stellaris based methods have been extended to directly and quantitatively detect chromosomal diseases caused by translocations and aberrant splice junctions,(intron chromosomal expression – iceFISH™) and single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs or SNP FISH™). Biosearch’s exclusive access to Stellaris probe design is offered complimentary at Stellaris Probe Designer.

“Stellaris Next-Gen gene expression methods deliver high-content analysis within cells and tissues, along with single-molecule detection and quantitation. While qPCR delivers only an average number of RNA transcripts across a population of cells and tissues, and depends on a series of events, including isolation, extraction, purification, amplification and probe analysis, Stellaris RNA FISH delivers directly detected ‘Seeing is Believing’ satisfaction, that eliminates the multiple qPCR processing complexities, costs and blind eye analysis”, says Marc Beal, Director of Corporate Development at Biosearch. “In addition, for the first time, and in the same reaction, researchers and clinicians can simultaneously perform gene expression and chromosomal analysis in combination with Immunofluorescence (IF, IHC). This unique property of Stellaris probes enables transactional analysis from transcription through translation at the single-cell and single-molecule level.”

“Chromosomal paints are just the latest in a series of continuing developments of Stellaris-based tools”, says Arjun Raj, co-inventor of the Stellaris based RNA FISH technology. “We believe our chromosomal paints will provide a simple and effective method for visualizing chromosome structure while simultaneously detecting mRNA levels in single cells. Furthermore, we are very excited to be developing new Stellaris-based assays for long non-coding RNA, allowing us to peer into the ‘dark matter’ of the genome. We are also working on a number of exciting new tools based on the use of Stellaris in the lab, and we are very excited about working with Biosearch to bring these methods to the market. These include assays for live cell imaging.”

"The single-molecule sensitivity afforded by Stellaris probes is providing unprecedented insights into diverse biological processes ranging from RNA localization, RNA processing, the assessment of noise in gene expression. The availability of pre-labeled sets of probes from Biosearch is a tremendous help to cell biologists who no longer need to be concerned with the complexities of probe selection and probe chemistry,” says Sanjay Tyagi, co-inventor of Stellaris based RNA FISH technology.

About UMDNJ and UMDNJ’s Office of Technology Transfer & Business Development

The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university, with more than 6,000 students attending the state's three medical schools, the state's only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health-related professions, a school of nursing, and the state's only school of public health, located on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits at UMDNJ facilities and faculty practices at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden, and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, which provides a continuum of healthcare services, with multiple locations throughout the state. UMDNJ’s Office of Technology Transfer & Business Development is the entity responsible for commercialization of UMDNJ’s intellectual property. The office works in partnership with UMDNJ faculty to identify, develop and commercialize promising academic discoveries.

For additional information about UMDNJ please visit www.umdnj.edu.

About Biosearch Technologies, Inc.

Biosearch Technologies, Inc. is a privately held, ISO 9001:2008 certified company, located in northern California. Founded in 1993, Biosearch is a leader in the design, development and manufacture of sophisticated oligonucleotide-based tools. Products include fluorophores (CAL Fluor®, Quasar® and Pulsar® dyes) and dark quenchers (Black Hole Quencher® dyes) to be included in custom-synthesized probe formats for real-time, quantitative PCR, Stellaris® RNA FISH, and other genomic-based applications.

In addition to basic R&D applications, Biosearch now leverages its demonstrated expertise in fully assembled RUO kits and in the cGMP manufacture of oligonucleotide components for molecular diagnostic assays. Biosearch Technologies is registered with the FDA (registration number 3003009052), and licensed by the State of California Department of Public Health (license number 55563) as a medical device manufacturer. As such, its GMP and Commercial Services manufacturing processes conform to all applicable cGMP requirements per 21 CFR Part 820. Biosearch’s markets include pharmaceutical, in vitro diagnostics, biotechnology, ag/bio, environmental and food testing, public health, and biodefense sectors.

For additional information about Biosearch Technologies, Inc., contact info@biosearchtech.com or visit www.biosearchtech.com.