Siemens has provided a non-exclusive licence to Virco BVBA that allows it to develop and commercialise a new hepatitis C research-service testing platform.
This platform will initially be utilised by pharmaceutical companies for drug-development support of the new hepatitis C virus (HCV) antivirals.
The platform will have the potential to provide HCV clinical diagnostic testing services in the future.
Virco presented a poster describing its sequencing and genotyping platform at the International Liver Meeting at the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), in Copenhagen on 23 April 2009.
This technology platform is at the core of Virco's efforts to sequence the HCV genome on a routine basis.
It will enable different viral genotype and subtypes to be identified and characterised.
It will also provide detailed genetic information on specific regions of interest such as those that are targets for HCV drugs and are subject to the development of resistant mutations.
Dr Lieven Stuyver, senior research fellow at Virco, said: 'With both this licence and our technology platform, we are well placed to collaborate with other researchers involved in drug development in bringing diagnostic tools specific to addressing needs in the new era of antiviral combination therapies.
'There is going to be a paradigm shift in HCV therapy in a few years' time, with a demand for new approaches to managing combination HCV therapy, such as applications in viral resistance, treatment prediction and biomarker research.' Virco will present additional data at upcoming meetings during the remainder of 2009 and welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with leading scientists working in the field of HCV diagnostics and therapeutics.
