Asahi Techno Glass Corp. and Olympus Optical Co. subsidiaries NovusGene Inc. and Olympus Promarketing Inc. announced on 19 June that the firms would soon begin marketing the first fruit of their colla…
Asahi Techno Glass Corp. and Olympus Optical Co. subsidiaries NovusGene Inc. and Olympus Promarketing Inc. announced on 19 June that the firms would soon begin marketing the first fruit of their collaboration on DNA chips. The first DNA chip, due out on 1 July, sports an array of mouse genes that can be used for new drug development. The companies make their DNA chips using a proprietary technology owned by NovusGene that places shorter DNA fragments on the chip. These probes stick better to the chip, raising the detection precision of the device. The new DNA chip will be sold in sets of four, priced at a relatively inexpensive JPY 98,000 per set. In addition to marketing the DNA chips, NovusGene will use them for a contract gene analysis service. By autumn, the three companies plans to begin a service making custom-order DNA chips sporting human gene fragments. And by the winter, they plan to market premanufactured DNA chips sporting probes for rat genes and human genes.