POLYGENYX, INC. AWARDED 2-YEAR PHASE II SBIR GRANT: $997,673 Grant from NHGRI Advances Development of Novel Haplotyping Platform

PolyGenyx, Inc. has been awarded a two-year Phase II Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) for $997,673. The grant will enable PolyGenyx to further develop its proprietary SNP haplotyping platform, HaploScan, and to develop commercial haplotyping assays.

(PRWEB) June 29, 2003 -- PolyGenyx, Inc. has been awarded a two-year Phase II Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) for $997,673. The grant will enable PolyGenyx to further develop its proprietary SNP haplotyping platform, HaploScan, and to develop commercial haplotyping assays.

HaploScan employs a unique hybridization approach for molecular haplotyping of multiple linked SNPs. In contrast to alternative approaches, HaploScan-which does not rely on computer algorithms to "predict" SNP haplotypes-is a reliable, accurate, low-cost approach to determining an individual's haplotypic makeup. It is ideally suited to the clinical laboratory and to high-throughput applications. HaploScan involves minimal setup, and a complex haplotype can be analyzed in under an hour.

Under the Phase II grant, PolyGenyx plans to develop commercial assay kits for specific haplotypes of scientific/clinical significance, including those linked to cancer, asthma, diabetes, and drug metabolizing enzyme activity.

"We are excited by the potential for this assay," said PolyGenyx CSO John Landers. "As well as having marketable applications, it will give us the opportunity to contribute to many scientific endeavors. Applications include diagnostics for haplotypes associated with disease traits; pharmacogenomics, including drug metabolizing enzyme haplotypes; association studies for genes involved in disease traits; and in establishing and confirming haplotypes for the HapMap project."

Under a previous Phase I SBIR Grant, PolyGenyx adapted HaploScan to the Luminex-100 bead-based detection platform. This improvement enables multiplexing of the HaploScan hybridization reactions and allows even multi-SNP haplotypes to be determined using just two reaction tubes.

In addition, the Luminex-based HaploScan assay is easily automated using standard liquid-handling robots for higher throughput and minimal manual intervention, and PolyGenyx is presently developing software to automate haplotype scoring.

PolyGenyx is a genomics-based biotechnology company focused on SNP haplotyping and gene-based diagnostics. It is located at the Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives facility: 25 Winthrop St., Worcester, MA 01604, approximately 40 miles west of Boston. For more information, please contact Christopher Simmons at 508-459-6120 or csimmons@polygenyx.com
Fax: 508-459-6122. Website: www.polygenyx.com

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