We hereby announce that TRANS GENIC INC. (headquartered at Kumamoto, Japan, CEO: Michita Sato, hereinafter referred to as "we") and National Cancer Center (Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan, President: Dr. Setsuo Hirohashi) concluded a joint research agreement on January 19, 2009 in order to discover new biomarkers to develop new diagnostic methods using specific antibodies.

　The purpose of the joint research is to improve outcomes of cancer treatment. Specifically, we aim to identify highly-accurate and clinically-useful biomarkers to detect cancer by combining our unique technology related to development of specific antibodies and proteome analysis, a state-of-the-art technology of National Cancer Center.
　We and Dr. Tadashi Kondo, project leader of Proteome Bio-informatics Project, National Cancer Center, and his research group will cooperate to discover candidate molecules of biomarkers by means of the proteome analysis of clinical samples and develop specific antibodies against the identified biomarker candidate molecules. Based on the research results, we will develop new methods of cancer diagnosis and treatment.
　Some of these research results may be applied to clinical settings and others may be useful for basic researches. We will protect the former as intellectual properties which will be licensed out in the future in accordance with the joint research agreement. As for the latter, we will develop specific antibodies to sell them as antibody reagents.
　The effects of the joint research on our business performance are as yet unknown, but we will make an announcement as soon as it is revealed to have a significant impact on our future performance.

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Biomarker
A biomarker is a biological substance used as an indicator of disease severity and pathological state of a patient under treatment. DNA, RNA, protein, protein segment, low-molecular substances in blood, urine and tissues are commonly used as biomarkers.
Diseases can be accurately detected at the early stage by using biomarkers in diagnosis. Moreover, if effects and prognosis of treatment can be accurately predicted, it becomes possible to offer treatment most suitable for each patient. Therefore, biomarkers are expected to play important roles to realize tailor-made medicine. Biomarkers are also expected to be used as targets for therapeutic intervention.

Proteome Analysis
Proteome analysis is a method to cyclopaedically examine structure, function, localization and interaction of proteins. Proteins closely linked to cancer and its malignancy can be identified by comparing differences between proteins produced by normal cells and cancer cells and comparing differences between proteins from an effectively treated patients and noneffectively treated patients. These proteins are useful for finding out pathogenic mechanism of cancer, developing biomarkers and discovering innovative seeds.