December 20, 2004

Genomatix' ElDorado Genome Annotation Engine: Patent pending comparative genomics of human, mouse, rat, chimp, dog, and chicken genomes adds more than 50.000 regulatory regions to the annotation

With today's release of the new GenomatixSuite, the list of available genomes within the ElDorado genomic annotation engine expanded to 11. The six vertebrate genomes, human, mouse, rat, chimp, dog and chicken were extensively cross mapped and referenced. An innovative comparative genomics approach resulted in identification of 50,000 additional gene promoter sequences.

"By our extensive work on the genomes I believe that ElDorado delivers the most complete and most accurate genome annotation for the contained organisms." says Klaus May, Director of Sales & Marketing of Genomatix Software GmbH, Munich.

Ongoing exhaustive cross mapping of all available transcripts, ESTs, Chip-probes, etc. will further contribute to a more detailed view of the genomes. More than 10 million SNPs were pre-analyzed for potential gene regulatory effects. More than 700,000 promoter modules were identified, S/MARs and genomic repeats are annotated, plus all available gene functional information.

In addition to the mentioned vertebrates ElDorado contains the genomes of drosophila, anopheles, plasmodium, arabidopsis and rice.

ElDorado can be freely accessed by the public after registration for GenomatixSuite at www.genomatix.de.

Some functional and volume limits will apply.

November 30, 2004

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center signs agreement with gene regulation specialist Genomatix

Genomatix Software GmbH, Munich, Germany and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), New York, N. Y. signed an agreement which allows full and unlimited access to GenomatixSuite for all MSKCC clinical and research staff, fellows and students.

GenomatixSuite contains databases and analysis tools centered on gene regulatory networks and pathways plus the largest available database of real mammalian promoter DNA sequences. Understanding Gene regulation is pivotal for understanding causes for diseases like cancer.

"I am delighted by this setup, which was initiated and is coordinated by MSKCC's Bioinformatics Core facility. Genomatix definitely will dedicate substantial resources to strengthen this relationship. We plan for joint seminars at MSKCC in order to educate more students in the very complex area of mammalian gene regulation." says Klaus May, Director Sales & Marketing of Genomatix.

He continues: "We are working towards expansion of this agreement to all researchers of Rockefeller University and the Cornell Weill Medical College."

Today more than 19,000 researchers are using Genomatix worldwide.

September 20, 2004

NIH licenses GenomatixSuite access for intramural researchers

Genomatix Software GmbH (Munich, Germany) announces today that it signed a license agreement with NCI, allowing 100 intramural researchers at all of the 21 NIH institutes full and unlimited access to GenomatixSuite. GenomatixSuite integrates software and databases designed for analysis of gene regulatory networks and pathways. It combines sequence analysis with text data mining and chip analysis tools, including - according to Genomatix - today's most complete database of mammalian promoter DNA sequences.

"I am very pleased with this agreement." says Klaus May, Genomatix Director of Sales & Marketing. "I see this as the first step towards giving all our 380 users from the different NIH institutes full and unlimited access in the future. Having won the confidence of such number of very experienced academic researchers endorses our continued dedication to scientific rigor, soundness and quality", he continues.

In connection with the NIH contract Genomatix is now ECS III (GWAC) compliant through its U.S. partner GovConnection. By that the NIH conditions are available to all U.S. government agencies.

GenomatixSuite today is used by more than 17,700 scientists worldwide.

March 22, 2004

Genomatix met cash-flow break-even in 2003

Privately held Genomatix in Munich, Germany announced that it has met operational break-even in the year 2003. Genomatix is an in silico biology company with a unique edge in gene regulation. The company has developed a unique and strong technology platform of databases and software tools aimed at understanding gene and protein regulation at the molecular level. The idea was to drill down so deeply into genomics analysis that researchers and pharmaceutical industry could move well beyond observing transcriptional events to gain the insight to truly understand how the molecular mechanisms work. The technology has been systematically extended during the last five years resulting in worldwide close to 15,000 researchers using it via the internet.

"We are very proud in having achieved this significant milestone in our corporate development, especially looking at last year's adverse business environment for platform technology providers", says Klaus J.W. May, Director Sales & Marketing.

"Based on our existing developments we will extend our lead by developing an ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GENE REGULATION, providing salient information for signaling and transcriptional pathways and networks not covered by conventional pathway databases", he continues.

"The cash-flow break-even very favorably positions Genomatix for a potential second round of financing. Additional capital allows for speeding up developments and broaden our reach. For instance our unique capabilities in efficient experimental design for large-scale experimental verification of regulatory network components, or our proprietary technology for transcript-specific probe design. All this may well help to break the current grid-lock on microarray data interpretations. It will be based on an innovative chip design which, by no means, will be restricted to today's Genomatix proprietary applications", he closes.

February 9, 2004

Genomatix Filed Patent: Epigenetics in DNA Chip Analysis

Genomatix filed a patent for an innovative method of introducing epigenetic principles into expression array analysis. Epigenetic mechanisms are responsible for higher order gene expression regulation on a chromosomal level. Understanding such events, in combination with a deep understanding of transcriptional regulation on gene level, represents a major step forward in interpreting gene chip data.

The new method will be integrated into Genomatix' developments towards a gene regulatory encyclopedia, elucidating biological pathways and regulatory networks. Deep knowledge of biological pathways is pivotal for understanding the molecular mechanisms of health, disease and drug action.

The regulatory encyclopedia will be the result of over a decade of research and knowledge integration derived from comparative promoter sequence analysis, large scale literature data and text mining, expression profiling, phylogenetic analysis, and proteomics.

"This patent filing is completely in line with the Genomatix philosophy of a holistic approach towards systems biology, which needs to include all aspects of transcriptional regulation. We are confident that this approach will further improve understanding of biological processes and opens the door to a so far largely untapped field for pharmaceutical innovation.", said Thomas Werner, CEO & CSO of Genomatix.