NZ

News & Events - New Zealand Patent Press Release

TeleChem International, Inc. Awarded Multi-Patient Genotyping Patent in New Zealand.

Sunnyvale, CA, June 7, 2006 – On May 11th, TeleChem International, Inc. was awarded a patent for its multi-patient genotyping technology from the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand. Neville Harris, Commissioner of Patents, Trade Marks and Designs, signed the letters patent number 523560 granting TeleChem International, Inc. patent protection on its invention entitled “Microarray Method of Genotyping Multiple Patients at Multiple Loci”. In 2005, the United States Patent and Trademark office issued U.S. patent 6,913,879 on the same invention, followed by the nation of Singapore (94899), granting the company patent protection for its methods of genotyping many patients at once. In a preferred embodiment, patient samples are amplified by the polymerase chain reaction, configured into microarrays, hybridized with fluorescent oligonucleotides, and genotyped by reading the microarray signals. Because the patient DNA forms the microarray, as many as 100,000 patients can be genotyped in a single hybridization reaction. Multi-patient technology greatly reduces the cost of patient genotyping compared to traditional “single patient” techniques, and the company is currently offering multi-patient genotyping products and services via its wholly owned subsidiary NGS-ArrayIt, Inc.

Company President Rene’ Schena shared her thoughts on TeleChem’s New Zealand patent number 523560. “We were very pleased to hear of the issuance of our New Zealand patent. Our exciting “patient on the chip” methods are gaining widespread protection worldwide by virtue of issued patents in the United States, Singapore and New Zealand. We have also recently received very positive feedback from the European office. This places our company in a sound position to participate in the genetic screening, testing and diagnostics markets worldwide. We thank the New Zealand patent office for their diligence in examining and approving our application.”

The issuance of TeleChem’s New Zealand Patent has been featured widely by the international news media and by on-line news providers such as Pharmacy Choice and NewsRx™.

About TeleChem International, Inc.
TeleChem is a privately owned company with products and services provided by three corporate divisions: Life Sciences (ArrayIt®), Chemicals, and Diagnostics (NGS-ArrayIt, Inc.). The Life Sciences division offers a complete line of products and services for the microarray industry, a high-technology sector that uses tiny glass “chips” to decipher the human genome. TeleChem’s patented microarray manufacturing technology (U.S. 6,101,946) and supporting products are used in more than 10,000 company and university laboratories worldwide. The Chemicals division provides import and export services and government contract manufacturing in the area of industrial chemicals for plastics, fire control, water treatment, agriculture, and industrial and institutional compounding. The Diagnostics Division (NGS-ArrayIt, Inc.) has recently received landmark patents in the United States (6,913,879), Singapore (94899) and New Zealand (523560) for its revolutionary “multi-patient” genotyping technology, which allows as many as 100,000 patients to be tested on a single microarray. NGS-ArrayIt is offering its patented genotyping and disease diagnostics methods to current and new users in the form of testing kits, services, and technology transfer licenses.

Media Contact
Paul Haje
Director of Public Relations
408-744-1331
Email:paul@ArrayIt.com