Seegene, Inc. Awarded Patent for ACP (Annealing Control Primer)

ROCKVILLE, MD--(Marketwire - September 16, 2009) - Seegene, Inc., a leader in multi-pathogen diagnostic testing, today announced that it has been awarded patent in the U.S. and Europe for Annealing Control Primer (ACP), a new technology for amplifying a specific region of a gene with much higher specificity and reproducibility than conventional approaches.

The success of PCR gene amplification rests on the specificity with which a primer anneals, or binds, to nucleic acids. The major limitation of primers in use today is that the high rate with which they anneal to non-specific targets and fail to distinguish target nucleic acids, leading to false positive test results. Therefore, there is an urgent need in the diagnostics testing community for a primer that greatly improves annealing specificity to generate true test results.

Seegene's novel ACP promises to overcome the limitations of conventional primers, significantly reduce associated false PCR test results and in the process open new applications in all fields of gene amplification-based technology. ACP is already in use commercially under the brand GeneFishing™ and DNA Walking SpeedUp™ for the discovery of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and the detection of unknown genetic sequences, respectively.

ACP has been cited widely in literature, including:

--  Dr. Laura Bonetta, associate editor, Nature Medicine, introduced ACP
    as one of the significant technique for discovery of a gene in "Gene
    expression: An expression of interest" (Nature 2006; 440: 1233-1237)."
    
--  Dr. Sarah Bradley in University of Michigan Medical School utilized
    ACP and discovered a new cancer marker, HIP1 -- over expressed protein in
    lymphoma patients (Cancer Research. 2007; 67(18): 8923-8931).
    
--  Dr. Queeny Chan, University of Hong Kong Medical School, published a
    paper about using ACP that FSTL1 protein suppresses ovarian cancer and
    endometrial cancer (Carcinogenesis 2009; 30(1): 114-121).
    
--  Dr. Won Sik Ham from Yunsei University Medical College discovered
    COUP-TFI protein was over expressed in transitional cell bladder carcinoma
    using ACP technology (Urology 2008; 72(4): 921-926).
    
--  Dr. Won Suk Lee in Samsung Medical Center identified three cancer-
    associated differentially expressed genes in microsatellite stable (MSS)
    sporadic colon cancer or MSS hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer
    (HNPCC) might be potential tumor markers (Journal of Surgical Research
    2008; 144(1): 29-35).
    

About Seegene

Seegene, Inc. is pioneering the field of multi-pathogen testing. Seegene applies its novel and proprietary Seeplex® system utilizing "ACP (Annealing Control Primer)" and "DPO (Dual Priming Oligo)" to create multi-pathogen tests delivering maximum specificity, reproducibility and sensitivity. As a result, Seegene's Seeplex diagnostic tests give healthcare workers and biomedical researchers the power to quickly and accurately differentiate among a broad-spectrum of disease causing pathogens, enabling them to treat patients faster and with the correct treatment. Seeplex tests works with automatic detection systems, such as capillary electrophoresis, and sets a high benchmark in testing accuracy, efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Seegene is based in Seoul, Korea and Rockville, MD. For more information, please visit www.seegene.com.