News room

Lyon, France - 7th November 2007
genOway announces the availability of an innovative mouse model for studying metabolic disorders to the scientific community. Recently reported as a major susceptibility factor for type II diabetes (Sladek R et al., Nature 2007, Steinhorsdottir V et al., Nature Gen. 2007 and Scott LJ et al., Science 2007), the ZnT-8 protein is involved in insulin secretion and the zinc transport pathway in pancreatic islet cells. Today, genetically engineered mouse lines lacking the ZnT-8 protein in a constitutive or tissue-specific manner are available through genOway.
These ZnT-8 gene knock-out mouse lines represent relevant models to provide new insights into zinc transport and insulin secretion mechanisms and better understand type II diabetes pathogenesis.

Thanks to an agreement with the mouse line owner – Mellitech –, this mouse line is now available to the scientific community with a total freedom to operate as research licenses are automatically provided.

"We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with genOway which is certainly the best partner possible in the animal model business" said Philippe Barth, MD, Mellitech's CEO. "Thanks to this agreement, we are proud to make these innovative mouse lines available in order to increase the knowledge related to the ZnT8 target, which has turned very attractive to the type II diabetes research community this year".

About Mellitech:
Mellitech SAS is a French discovery-based company incorporated in 2005. Spin-off from CEA Grenoble (Commisariat à l’Energie Atomique) and UJF (Joseph Fourier University) the company is dedicated to discovering and developing innovative anti-diabetic compounds, and to designing the first product for the functional imaging of the pancreas and new diagnostic methods based on its patented SLC30A8/ZnT8 target. Mellitech has recently reached a significant milestone with first hits and is currently setting its Series A financing round to move forward on its development plan. For more information visit: www.mellitech.com

Lyon, France - October 17th, 2007
genOway, the biotechnology company dedicated to the development of genetically modified animal models reports the signing of a contract for up to 2 Million USD in intended services with a leading biopharmaceutical company based in the United States of America. Under the terms of this 2-year agreement, genOway will provide its client with customized genetically modified mouse lines tailored to the researchers’ needs. Moreover, this agreement can be increased to include additional models.
genOway has been chosen thanks to the company’s expertise and capacity to create highly sophisticated animal models by means of an industrialized production process.

"This contract is the second multi-million dollar deal of the year for genOway. It further confirms that the company is able to propose acceptable offers to large biopharmaceutical companies. genOway is proud to have been chosen by this company and we are very excited about the start of this collaboration" said Alexandre Fraichard, CEO of genOway.

"This deal reinforces genOway’s position as a major player for leading biopharmaceutical companies in the world." said Kader Thiam, VP Transgenic Technologies of genOway.

Lyon, France - 9th October 2007
genOway, a biotechnology company developing genetically modified mouse and rat models, is founded upon these very technologies. genOway has extended their application to the rat and to conditional modifications.

"This Nobel Prize is a new illustration of the relevance of our technology to biomedical research and the biopharmaceutical industry. These technologies aim to achieve a greater understanding of physiological functions and are now required by all biopharmaceutical groups", said Alexandre Fraichard, CEO of genOway.

The 2007 Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded on Monday 8th October to the Americans, Mario Capecchi and Oliver Smithies, as well as the Britain, Martin Evans, for their work on genetic modifications in the mouse using embryonic stem cells.

The Nobel committee commented: "Their discoveries have enabled the development of a technology which has been important for the elucidation of physiological mechanisms and for the development of therapeutics". In 2001, the three men had received the Albert-Lasker Prize for their work on the mouse genome.

Lyon, France - May 2007
genOway, the European market leader in transgenesis, announces its commitment to the German National Genome Research Network (NGFN) by participating in a consortium focusing on human diseases. NGFN will fund genOway with 1.1 million euro for the development of mouse models.

Scientists at the NGFN have identified up to 32 different genes involved in human diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and allergies. In order to further investigate how these genes contribute to the occurrence of diseases, scientists need to have access to the corresponding mouse models: "Genes can be switched off, but also be hyper-activated by mutations which allows us to investigate both the loss and the overproduction of the gene product" explained Professor Martin Hrabé de Angelis, the director of the German Mouse Clinic (GMC) and director of the GSF Institute of Experimental Genetics (IEG).

genOway has been selected by the NGFN to participate in this initiative for its capacity to simultaneously develop a large number of mouse lines. Thanks to its industrialized production process using well-validated and fully secured technologies. genOway will be able to provide NGFN scientists with the requested animal models at a high turnover rate.

"genOway is very proud to participate in this initiative with the NGFN. This collaboration demonstrates the quality of the technologies genOway has developed and the suitability of the services offered to researcher's needs" said Alexandre Fraichard, CEO of genOway.

Lyon, France - May 15th, 2007
genOway, the biopharmaceutical company for genetically modified mouse and rat models, announces the success of its initial public offering (IPO) on Alternext - NYSE Euronext. The offering raised significant interest, with demand representing more than 10 times the allotted amount of shares for investors.

genOway's capital increase will provide the company with additional resources for supporting its R&D policy which is aimed at improving its technology platform through proprietary innovation and license acquisitions, with a view to anticipating its clients’ future needs.

genOway has developed a sophisticated and robust industrialized technical platform aimed at providing the most suitable solutions to its clients' needs using well validated and fully secured technologies. Strategic alliances formed with leading companies such as Charles River Laboratories and Invitrogen Corporation, provide genOway’s customers with a comprehensive service including solutions upstream of model creation such as in vitro design and validation of shRNA and downstream services including cryopreservation of transgenic lines, accelerated backcrossing and phenotyping services.

Thanks to the all-encompassing range of services offered, genOway has reported a 67% sales increase in 2006 with a global yearly increase of 50% over the last 4 years. This rapid growth is supported by the company’s recent business results in North America and Japan.
"Commercial agreements with major biopharmaceutical companies such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, Kyowa Hakko Kogyo, Ono Pharmaceuticals, etc. and leading research institutes such as Duke University Medical Center, National Institutes of Health, Universities of California in San Diego & San Francisco, University of Tokyo, etc. are encouraging and should reinforce our presence in these fast growing markets" said Alexandre Fraichard, the CEO of genOway.

Lyon, France and Hamburg, Germany, 13th February 2007
genOway, the European market leader in transgenesis, has further strengthened its position as one of the leading providers of genetically modified rodents. Along with 25 partners from 10 European countries, the company is involved as an SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) in the EU 6th Framework Program "EUGeneHeart", an integrated project aimed at the development of new approaches to prevent and treat heart failure.
Heart failure is one of the most frequently occurring diseases and in Europe approximately 4 million people are affected. The patients suffer from a limited ability to cope with physical stress and the disease is one of the most common causes of death in the developed world.

The EUGeneHeart is one of largest heart research projects ever promoted by the European Union with a sum of 11.4 million Euros awarded over a period of 5 years. The EUGeneHeart project is lead by Prof. Dr. Gerd Hasenfuß, managing director of the Department of Cardiology and Pneumology and also leader of the Heart Centre of the University of Göttingen.
Within the EUGeneHeart program, participating scientists are searching for new possibilities for a more effective treatment of heart failure. This includes translational research on existing pharmacological interventions, proof of principle studies with molecules already developed by the consortium as well as the development of new therapeutics based on candidate molecules identified within the project. Significant gender differences in the physiology and patho-physiology of adaptive and maladaptive myocardial hypertrophy are also being investigated. This network research will be supported by three innovative industrial enterprises - one of them is genOway.

"We expect this project to deliver new findings for the prevention of heart failure and the improved treatment of patients suffering from heart failure. We are very excited about our new partner genOway", says Prof. Dr. Hasenfuss, coordinator of the project.

The specialists at genOway will use a combination of transgenesis, targeted mutagenesis and RNA interference technologies to generate novel animal models, validating candidate molecules in vivo and providing novel models for the efficient screening and testing of innovative therapeutic approaches.

About the EUGeneHeart –Program
www.eugeneheart.eu
One of the biggest heart research projects promoted by the European Union, EUGeneHeart (contract: LSHM-CT-2005-018833) started its job in January 2006 with the aim of unraveling the “Genomics of Cardiomyocyte Signaling to Treat and Prevent Heart Failure”. EUGeneHeart will develop new approaches to prevent and treat heart failure through the analysis of the genomics of signaling. Our strategy is based on the hypothesis that beneficial and maladaptive forms of hypertrophy exist and that heart failure is frequently preceded by maladaptive hypertrophy. The EUGeneHeart initiative will dissect the signaling pathways in hypertrophy to identify beneficial and maladaptive components.