Aequorea victoria GFP
BRINGING DRUG DISCOVERY TO L I F E
A license to the complete range of red-shifted
and folding mutations from Aurora Biosciences,
BioImage and Amersham Biosciences now available
from a single source
Green fluorescent protein (GFP) has a number of applications in drug
discovery research. In particular, GFP can be used as a reporter molecule
to build up a detailed picture of the distribution, trafficking and function
of proteins within cells and to evaluate how drug candidates affect these
processes in a cellular environment.
GFP can be used in conjunction with almost any fluorescence microscope,
fluorescence plate reader or fluorescence imager. However, it is most
powerful when used in conjunction with live cells at sub-cellular resolution
at high throughput.Therefore, the IN Cell Analysis System will exploit GFP
technology to its full potential.
Amersham Biosciences took out an exclusive license with the right to
sub-license the GFP portfolio from BioImage, Denmark in November 2000.
In August 2001, Amersham Biosciences signed a licensing agreement with
Aurora Biosciences. Amersham Biosciences has immediate and exclusive
sub-licensing rights in Europe and Japan and exclusive sub-licensing rights in the
USA from October 1st for the use of GFP in the discovery and development of
human therapeutics.
GFP LICENSES
Aequorea victoria GFP is the most characterized and best
understood fluorescent protein. Wild type GFP derives from
jellyfish existing in cold sea water. The introduction of certain
folding mutations dramatically improves the yield of correctly
folded GFP molecules at 37°C. Red-shifted mutations are
also required to enable the fluorescence to be detected
by standard laboratory fluorescence detection instruments.
Both Aurora Biosciences and BioImage have granted patents
in Europe and USA which claim these mutations.
Amersham Biosciences has now pooled patent portfolios with
Aurora Biosciences and BioImage to combine the intellectual
property on folding and red-shifted mutations, simplifying the
licensing position and creating a single license that covers all.
The patent portfolio gives access to the commonly used GFPs such
as EGFP as well as the blue, cyan and yellow color-shifted variants.
The patent portfolio includes the following granted/issued patents:
US 5,625,048 US 5,777,079 US 5,804,387 US 5,968,738
US 5,994,077 US 6,054,321 US 6,066,476 US 6,077,707
US 6,090,919 US 6,124,128 US 6,172,188 EP 851874 EP0804457
A number of additional patent applications from Aurora
Biosciences, BioImage and Amersham Biosciences will
also be included in the license.
Aurora has exclusive rights to sublicense patented mutant
GFP technology from BioImage and Amersham Biosciences
to certain of their current licensees. Aurora also retain the
right to sublicense these technologies in conjunction with the
sale of their systems and instrumentation, and with their other
fluorescent reporter technologies.
Amersham is a trademark of Amersham plc. All goods and services are sold subject to the terms and
conditions of the sale of the company within the Amersham Biosciences group which supplies them.
A copy of these terms and conditions is available on request.
Amersham Biosciences, Amersham Place, Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, England HP7 9NA.
Amersham Biosciences AB, SE-75184, Uppsala, Sweden Amersham Biosciences Corp.
800 Centennial Avenue, PO Box 1327, Piscataway, NJ 08855, USA Amersham Biosciences,
Munzinger Strasse 9, D-79111, Freiburg, Germany © Amersham Biosciences 2001-All rights reserved.