The Hindu Business Line : Isogen to expand Ocimum presence in Europe, US

Isogen Life Sciences, a Netherlands-based company, will expand the market space in the oligonucleotides (biomolecular markers), widely used in biotechnology, for Ocimum Biosolutions in Europe and the US.

Isogen Managing Director Mr Hans Beijersbergen Van Henegouwen said his company makes standard and modified oligonucleotides and is one of the leading producers in Europe.

In Hyderabad to firm up his company's sale of the oligonucleotides business to Ocimum Biosolutions recently, Mr Henegouwen said that in the new areas of genomics, proteomics and gene therapy, which are opening up tremendous opportunities for drug companies, oligonucleotides play a major role.

The new-generation biotech companies are deploying fast crunching machines, DNA chips and markers such as oligonucleotides to quickly decipher the information in the genes (human, plant and animal) in their quest to understand them better and find their role in disease and thereby develop drugs for treatment.

Isogen, which is based in Ijsselstein, would like to focus on imaging technologies it core strength, in addition to continuing to grow as a leading supplier of products for the life science sector, he told Business Line.

The company has developed ImaGo, a multi-purpose imaging system, and OptiGo, a new imaging line, which opens up possibilities of imaging applications are not normally possible with laser-based imaging systems, he added.

On further partnerships with Indian companies, Mr Henegouwen said: "India offers big scope for collaborative work in life science research with its large number of research institutes and laboratories."

One area that Isogen is seriously contemplating is developing diagnostics for cattle disease, which is a major problem in the Netherlands and to an extent in India, he added.

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