We hereby announce that a patent has been granted for a technology to produce high-affinity antibodies named GANP® Mouse Technology (hereinafter referred to as “the Technology”) by the Australian Patent Office (Patent No.: AU2003277620). This is a fundamental technology of TRANS GENIC INC. (headquartered in Kumamoto, Japan, CEO: Michita Sato, hereinafter referred to as “we”).

　This basic patent widely covers the Technology discovered by Dr. Nobuo Sakaguchi, professor of Department of Immunology, Kumamoto University School of Medicine.

　We use the Technology to produce high-affinity and high-specificity antibodies and some of them are sold as research reagents.

　We also conduct licensing business of the Technology with a view to developing diagnostic reagents.

　We and National Cancer Center have been conducting a joint research project since January 2009 to discover new tumor markers by combining cyclopaedic proteome analysis and the Technology for the purpose of accelerating development of new diagnostic antibodies.

　We will continuously intend to acquire intellectual properties of the Technology at home and abroad to make it contribute to our business, while carrying out R&D and business activities to discover innovative diagnostic and therapeutic antibodies by using GANP® mouse Technology.

　This announcement will not have a material impact on our business and financial performance for the fiscal term ending March 2009.


Reference:

GANP® Mouse Technology
　This is our unique technology to produce antibodies using "GANP® mice", genetically engineered mice whose GANP gene expression is increased. Compared to conventional methods of antibody production, GANP® mouse technology can produce higher-affinity and higher-specificity antibodies with a higher success rate.
　We regard it as a fundamental technology in our antibody-related technological platforms and use it to promote various businesses, such as developing our original products and granting its license to pharmaceutical companies and diagnostic reagent manufacturers to gain profits from its licensing fees and product royalties.

- What is GANP (Germinal Center Associated Nuclear Protein)?
　It is a new nuclear factor increasingly expressed in germinal-center B cells. Dr. Nobuo Sakaguchi of Kumamoto University discovered it.

- What are characteristics of GANP® mice?
　Expression of GANP genes in germinal-center B cells is more increased in GANP mice than in normal mice. These GANP proteins cause the genetic alteration of the V regions with increased mutations. Therefore high-affinity and high-specificity antibodies can be produced with a high success rate.

　Sakaguchi N. et al., J Immunol. 2005 Apr 15;174(8):4485-94.