Deinove to receive European patent for genetic engineering process

Dec 21 2010

Deinove, the world's leading specialist in Deinococcus bacteria for biofuels, green chemistry and antibiotics, today announced that the European Patent Office had notified it of the intention to grant the patent application EP2016183 entitled "Process for chromosome engineering using a novel DNA repair system".

"The grant of our foundational, proprietary patent, coupled with the many additional patent applications filed since 2006, is important news. It provides worldwide protection for our technological developments and reinforces our global leadership in industrial exploitation of the deinococci, notably in biomass-derived biofuels, green chemistry and antibiotics", commented Chief Executive Officer Jacques Biton.

In 2006, the prestigious scientific journal Nature reported the discovery by Miroslav Radman (a Professor at the Rene Descartes University of Paris and a member of the French Academy of Science) and his colleagues of the mechanism which enables the bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans to "come back to life" in a few hours by repairing and reorganizing its genetic material (DNA).

The patent filing protecting this major discovery prompted the incorporation of Deinove led jointly by Philippe Pouletty MD (Managing Partner at Truffle Capital) and Professor Radman.

The EP2016183 patent covers a genetic engineering process that exploits the deinococci's unique self-repair ability - a property that has enabled these bacteria to enrich their genome through natural evolution over 3 billion years. This self-repair process enabled them to develop the exceptional natural ability to exploit biomass by borrowing genes from other living organisms. The ability to integrate these survival genes has made the deinococci exceptional candidates for industrial exploitation.

In concrete terms, the grant of this patent will make Deinove the only company able to commercially exploit the Deinococcus-related genetic tools stemming from Miroslav Radman's major discovery and use them in industrial applications.

Source: Deinove