HEIDELBERG, Germany–Gene Bridges GmbH, the recombineering company, today announced that Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan has completed a commercial license agreement for the use of the Red/ET recombination technology from Gene Bridges.

The Red/ET recombination technology, patented in Japan under the title “Novel DNA Cloning Method“, is a valued method for generating targeting vectors or modifying E. coli chromosomes.

“We are very pleased to welcome another major Japanese pharmaceutical company as a licensee of Red/ET,” commented Gary Stevens, CEO of Gene Bridges GmbH. “Recombineering is becoming the technology of choice in DNA engineering and with the help of Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd., we expect to gain further acceptance of Red/ET in industry and academia worldwide.”

Red/ET is a revolutionary method for DNA engineering. Recombineering with Red/ET allows cloning, subcloning, and modification of DNA at any chosen position. It permits precise engineering of DNA molecules of any size, including very large ones such as BACs or the E.coli chromosome. Recombineering DNA using Red/ET has a number of advantages over conventional methods:

Independent of restriction sites

No size limits

No unwanted mutations

Rapid

Red/ET Recombineering is one simple and powerful tool to modify plasmids, BACs, and even E.coli chromosomes. Gene Bridges is represented in Japan by the distribution partner Funakoshi.

About Gene Bridges GmbH

Gene Bridges GmbH is a self-financed biotech company pioneering recombineering, the fast and precise method of engineering gene sequences. The Company was founded in 2000 as spin-off from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany. Gene Bridges commercialises its patented recombineering technology through services, commercial licenses and kits from its facilities in Heidelberg as well as through its distributors worldwide. Further information can be found by visiting www.genebridges.com

About Daiichi Sankyo

A global pharma innovator, Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. was established in 2005 through the merger of two leading Japanese pharmaceutical companies. This integration created a more robust organization that allows for continuous development of novel drugs that enrich the quality of life for patients around the world. A central focus of Daiichi Sankyo’s research and development are thrombotic disorders, malignant neoplasm, diabetes mellitus, and autoimmune disorders. Equally important to the company are hypertention, hyperlipidemia or atherosclerosis and bacterial infections.

In June 2008, Daiichi Sankyo acquired the privately held firm, U3 Pharma AG, a German biotechnology company focusing on research into antibodies for the treatment of cancer. U3 Pharma, which is based in Martinsried, Germany, was founded by Professor Axel Ullrich of the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, whose pioneering gene technology-based and oncology-focused research led to the development of the oncology blockbusters Herceptin(R) and Sutent(TM).

For more information, visit www.daiichisankyo.com.