KeyGene, Floragenex Enter RADseq Licensing Deal

Keygene N.V. and Floragenex Inc. announced that they have entered into a license agreement in the field of Sequence Based Genotyping (SBG). The agreement includes dismissal of the patent infringement lawsuit filed by KeyGene in 2011 against Floragenex in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. Under terms of the agreement, Floragenex will obtain a non-exclusive royalty bearing license to KeyGene’s intellectual property.

Floragenex will continue to apply the Restriction-site Associated DNA (RAD) method in specified fields, including non-commercial and academic research in all species. The agreement strengthens the position of Floragenex as leader in RADseq applications and extends its portfolio of research service offerings. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"During the last decade, KeyGene has invested substantially in research and development of its molecular breeding technology platform and IPR portfolio. We are very pleased to have Floragenex join our growing number of licensees” said Arjen J. van Tunen, CEO of KeyGene. “This settlement and license agreement demonstrates KeyGene's leading position in this field and allows us to focus on further licensing opportunities in the Sequence Based Breeding market.”

"Floragenex and KeyGene share the belief that genotyping with next generation sequencing technology holds tremendous promise for applications in all species. The power of sequencing platforms today and in the future open up new markets and opportunities for RADseq and similar applications as substitutes for fixed content genotyping arrays,” said Rick Nipper, the President of Floragenex. “We are pleased to build a relationship with KeyGene that provides clarity around Intellectual Property in these fields and advances the strategic business objectives of both companies.”

Restriction-site associated DNA sequencing, a method that samples at reduced complexity across target genomes, promises to deliver high resolution population genomic data-thousands of sequenced markers across many individuals-for any organism at reasonable costs.