Sigma-Aldrich® and the Institute of Molecular Genetics, Czech Center for Phenogenomics, Establish CRISPR Core Lab Collaboration

ST. LOUIS, Jan. 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Sigma-Aldrich Corporation's (NASDAQ: SIAL) Research business unit, which supports scientific research by supplying products, services and solutions, today announced it has entered into a new gene editing collaboration with the Institute of Molecular Genetics (IMG) at the Czech Center for Phenogenomics (CCP) in Prague. Under the collaboration, Sigma-Aldrich will provide the Transgenic Module at IMG/CCP with Sigma CRISPR technology, including reagents, experimental design consultation and dedicated gene editing bioinformaticians.

"We are pleased to collaborate with the Czech Center for Phenogenomics at the IMG," said Sean Muthian, Ph.D., MBA, Director of Strategic Marketing and Collaborations at Sigma-Aldrich. "The Sigma-Aldrich CRISPR Core Lab Collaboration helps accelerate the pace of translational research by removing design and production hurdles with CRISPR or Zinc Finger Nucleases, allowing scientists at the transgenic facility to focus on developing animal models that reflect the human condition."

"Employing new technologies based on custom programmable nucleases, such as the CRISPR/Cas technology, into our service portfolio reduced turnaround times over 75% compared to conventional methods," said Radislav Sedlacek, Ph.D., Director of the Czech Center for Phenogenomics. "Now rodents harboring targeted genetic mutations, including knockin, point mutations, and fusion proteins, can be produced in as little as six weeks, and at a fraction of the previous cost. Not surprisingly, service requests for these technologies have undergone substantial growth over the past year, reaching almost 100 projects at the end of 2014. Our collaboration with Sigma-Aldrich will allow us to further improve our service efficiency and keep pace with our growing order book."

"With the availability of our CRISPR Technology, scientists will be able to more consistently and confidently modify genes of interest leading to more reproducible outcomes in their research. Our collaboration with the Institute of Molecular Genetics/Czech Center for Phenogenomics is an example of how Sigma-Aldrich is making available technologies to improve reproducibility for scientists," said Muthian.

The Czech Center for Phenogenomics (www.phenogenomics.cz), the largest comprehensive rodent research infrastructure in Central Europe, provides strain cryopreservation and archiving services, advanced phenotyping and imaging services, specific pathogen free (SPF) animal housing and husbandry, as well as a full spectrum of genetic engineering services, all within the new IMG-BIOCEV complex.

For more information, visit www.sigma.com/crisprs.

Cautionary Statement: The foregoing release contains forward-looking statements that can be identified by terminology such as "is intended," "will allow" or similar expressions, or by expressed or implied discussions regarding potential future revenues from products derived there from. You should not place undue reliance on these statements. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of management regarding future events, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. There can be no guarantee that this or any other joint venture will assist the Company to achieve any particular levels of revenue in the future. In particular, management's expectations regarding this joint venture could be affected by, among other things, the Company's ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection; competition in general; government, industry and general public pricing pressures; the impact that the foregoing factors could have on the values attributed to the Company's assets and liabilities as recorded in its consolidated balance sheet, and other risks and factors referred to in Sigma-Aldrich's current Form 10-K on file with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, believed, estimated or expected. Sigma-Aldrich is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

About Sigma-Aldrich: Sigma-Aldrich, a leading Life Science and Technology company focused on enhancing human health and safety, manufactures and distributes 230,000 chemicals, biochemicals and other essential products and 40,000 equipment products to more than 1.4 million customers globally in research and applied labs as well as in industrial and commercial markets. With three distinct business units - Research, Applied and SAFC Commercial - Sigma-Aldrich is committed to enabling science to improve the quality of life. The Company operates in 37 countries, has approximately 9,000 employees worldwide and had sales of $2.7 billion in 2013. For more information about Sigma-Aldrich, please visit its website at www.sigma-aldrich.com.

Sigma-Aldrich and Sigma are trademarks of Sigma-Aldrich Co, LLC registered in the US and other countries.

SOURCE Sigma-Aldrich Corporation

Related Links

http://www.phenogenomics.cz