US-based Transposagen Biopharmaceuticals has announced today the issuing of a patent entitled, ‘Nucleic Acids Encoding Hyperactive PiggyBac Transposases’ on 19 March 2013 and a patent entitled, ‘A Genetically Modified Rat Comprising a Cytokine Gene Disruption and Exhibiting a Greater Susceptibility to a Cytokine-Mediated Autoimmune and/or Inflammatory Disease’ on 15 October 2013.
The patents have terms extending through 2030.
The piggyBacTM DNA transposon is the most efficient and safe technology for delivering DNA stably into the genome of animals and is being used in biomedical, agricultural and human therapeutic applications.
Transposagen tested over two million variations of the piggyBacTM transposase enzyme and discovered versions of the enzyme that are more than 10 times more active than the version found in nature.
The piggyBacTM technology is also a critical component of Footprint-FreeTM Gene Editing, one of the only commercially available methods to edit as little as a single nucleotide in the genome of nearly any organism.
Transposagen director of sales and marketing Jack Crawford said: "The new 'super piggyBacTM vectors and PB-GoldTM kit, will allow researchers to perform stable transfection for the same cost and on the same timeline as transient transfection."
The more recent patent covers all genetically modified rats that model lymphocyte proliferation, autoimmune disease or inflammatory disease, including all genetically modified rats with dysfunction in macrophages, immunoglobulin, T-cells, B-cells and/or NK-cells.
The patent further covers any assay that screens for potentially useful therapeutic compounds using cells derived from the genetically modified rats.
Transposagen president and CEO Dr Eric Ostertag noted this patent, and other imminent patents that cover genetically modified rat models of cancer and other diseases, cements Transposagen's position as a premier provider of custom genetically modified rodents.
"We are proud to be the sole provider of valuable research reagents, such as the hyperactive piggyBacTM transposase and rat models of inflammatory disease, to the research community," Dr Ostertag added.
