ST. LOUIS, Mo., May 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Sigma Life Science,
the innovative biological products and services research business
of Sigma-Aldrich® (Nasdaq: SIAL), and King's College London,
today announced an exclusive license to develop and commercialize
new technology for the identification and validation of microRNA
(miRNA) targets in research and clinical diagnostics. For more
detailed information, visit www.wherebiobegins.com/targetid.
miRNAs function as critical regulators of gene expression in
eukaryotic cells, with more than 1,000 different miRNAs in the
human genome already known to play multiple roles in gene
regulation. Although the specific targets of most miRNAs are
largely unknown, aberrant expression of miRNAs has been implicated
in numerous disease states, making them important targets for
clinical research in oncology, wound healing and infectious
disease.
Currently, identification of miRNA targets is laborious and
inefficient, relying on computer algorithms and subsequent
validation by in vitro assays. To overcome this research
bottleneck, scientists in the Division of Cancer Studies at King's
have developed a technology allowing simple, accurate
identification and validation of miRNA targets. Dr. Joop Gaken, lead researcher of this project,
explained, "The role of miRNAs in cancer is well established, and
several miRNAs clearly function as either oncogenes or tumor
suppressor genes, although the target genes are unknown in the
majority of cases. This new test is expected to enable the
straightforward identification of target genes that are strongly
regulated by a given miRNA, helping to elucidate important gene
regulation events in vivo."
"miRNA research is a rapidly growing field, and this test is
expected to be an invaluable asset to commercial and academic
researchers working with miRNAs," said Steven Suchyta, Market Segment Manager at
Sigma-Aldrich. "We believe that the exclusive license agreement
will allow Sigma Life Science and King's College London to work
closely together to ensure rapid development of this technology for
the benefit of the research community, and underlines our
commitment to accelerating scientific discovery through innovative
technology."
Cautionary statement: The foregoing release contains
forward-looking statements that can be identified by terminology
such as "ensures," "is responding to," "is expected to," "will
allow," or similar expressions, or by expressed or implied
discussions regarding potential future revenues from products
derived therefrom. You should not place undue reliance on these
statements. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current
views of management regarding future events, and involve known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause
actual results to be materially different from any future results,
performance or achievements expressed or implied by such
statements. There can be no guarantee that the miRNA Target
Identification Library will continue to meet the demands of the
marketplace. Nor can there be any guarantee that any of the
products from the miRNA Target Identification Library will achieve
any particular levels of revenue in the future. In particular,
management's expectations regarding the miRNA Target Identification
Library could be affected by, among other things, unexpected
regulatory actions or delays or government regulation generally;
the Company's ability to obtain or maintain patent or other
proprietary intellectual property protection; competition in
general; government, industry and general public pricing pressures;
the impact that the foregoing factors could have on the values
attributed to the Company's assets and liabilities as recorded in
its consolidated balance sheet, and other risks and factors
referred to in Sigma-Aldrich's current Form 10-K on file with the
US Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these
risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying
assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially
from those anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.
Sigma-Aldrich is providing the
information in this press release as of this date and does not
undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements
contained in this press release as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise.
About Sigma Life Science: Sigma Life Science is a
Sigma-Aldrich business that represents the Company's leadership in
innovative biological products and services for the global life
science market and offers an array of biologically-rich products
and reagents that researchers use in scientific investigation.
Product areas include biomolecules, genomics and functional
genomics, cells and cell-based assays, transgenics, protein assays,
stem cell research, epigenetics and custom
services/oligonucleotides. Sigma Life Science also provides an
extensive range critical bioessentials like biochemicals,
antibiotics, buffers, carbohydrates, enzymes, forensic tools,
hematology and histology, nucleotides, amino acids and their
derivatives, and cell culture media.
About Sigma-Aldrich: Sigma-Aldrich is a leading Life Science and High
Technology company committed to Enabling Science to Improve the
Quality of Life. Its chemical and biochemical products and kits are
used in scientific research, including genomic and proteomic
research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development and as key
components in pharmaceutical, diagnostic and other high technology
manufacturing. The Company has customers in life science companies,
university and government institutions, hospitals, and in industry.
Over one million scientists and technologists use its products.
Sigma-Aldrich operates in 40
countries and has 8,000 employees providing excellent service
worldwide. For more information about Sigma-Aldrich, please visit
its award-winning Web site at http://www.sigma-aldrich.com.
Sigma-Aldrich and Sigma are
registered trademarks of Sigma-Aldrich and its affiliate
Sigma-Aldrich Biotechnology, L.P.
About King's College London: King's College London is one
of the top 25 universities in the world (2010 QS international
world rankings), The Sunday Times 'University of the Year 2010/11'
and the fourth oldest in England.
A research-led university based in the heart of London, it has nearly 23,500 students (of whom
nearly 9,000 are graduate students) from 140 countries and
approximately 6,000 employees. The College is in the top seven UK
universities for research earnings and has an overall annual income
of nearly 450 million pounds
Sterling. For more information about King's College London,
please visit www.kcl.ac.uk
SOURCE Sigma Life Science