Pasteur Licenses Deafness Diagnostic to Nanogen

Exclusive rights in Europe to certain patents and patent applications relating to detection of mutations in the GJB2 gene for the diagnosis of hereditary deafness have been licensed by Institut Pasteur (Paris, France) to Nanogen, Inc. (San Diego, CA, USA). Financial terms were not disclosed.

Nanogen plans to develop a molecular diagnostic product that can be customized by European testing laboratories to screen newborns for hereditary deafness. The GJB2 gene, which encodes a protein called connexin 26, was demonstrated to be associated with 25-50% of cases of hereditary deafness in Western countries and those around the Mediterranean Sea. About one to three in every 1,000 infants born have profound hearing loss, making it one of the most common disabilities in newborns.
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Universal newborn screening for hearing loss using auditory or behavioral tests has been widely adopted. However, genetic testing can not only help predict hearing loss but identify the cause of loss and predict whether it will deteriorate. Nanogen develops and commercializes molecular diagnostic products for the gene-based testing market.

"There is no genetic test available in Europe to identify whether infants have inherited deafness, and we've secured exclusive rights to intellectual property for this important gene from Insitut Pasteur, a major pioneer in research into the genetics of deafness,” said Howard C. Birndorf, chairman and CEO of Nanogen.





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