Hyderabad June 05, 2003 : Ocimum Biosolutions announces the sale of its gene optimization bioinformatics software, OptGene™, to Dow AgroSciences, LLC. Financial aspects of the deal were not disclosed.

Ocimum’s CEO Anuradha Acharya commented, “Dow AgroSciences is one the leading companies in the world in plant biotechnology. We are very pleased to be working with Dow AgroSciences and meeting their needs in customizing this cutting edge product, OptGene™”. We look forward to a continuing association with Dow AgroSciences”.

Dr. Don Merlo, Senior Research Scientist, Molecular Biology group for Dow AgroSciences said “OptGene™ combines a whole suite of gene design and analysis packages into one user-friendly and user-customizable program that replaces three programs that I used previously”, and he further added “I was amazed at the speed of Ocimum’s customer response. With Ocimum having a team in India, the time difference between the US and India actually worked to my advantage, since answers to questions I encountered during my work day were worked on and solved overnight.”

OptGene is a multi-platform compatible bioinformatics software that enables design of genes with optimized features for expression in organism of choice. The software exploits the redundancy in the codon usage to engineer desired features into the targeted gene. It comes with integrated user-friendly tools to perform various manipulations for efficiently achieving desired structural and functional features in the targeted gene sequence. It is the only product of its kind in the world. Ocimum is in the process of filing worldwide patents for this product.

About Ocimum Biosolutions

Ocimum Biosolutions is an ISO 9001:2000 certified life sciences contract R&D Company with competencies in LIMS and Bioinformatics and operations in the USA and India. Ocimum Biosolutions is a Delaware registered company with its operations at Costa Mesa, California. The Indian arm of Ocimum Biosolutions is located at Hyderabad.

About Dow AgroSciences

Dow AgroSciences LLC, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, is a global leader in providing pest management and biotechnology products that improve the quality and quantity of the earth’s food supply and contribute to the safety, health and quality of life of the world’s growing population. Dow AgroSciences has approximately 6,000 people in over 50 countries dedicated to its business, and has worldwide sales of approximately $3 billion (US dollars). Dow AgroSciences is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company.

Contact
Anuradha Acharya, CEO
Email: info@ocimumbio.com
Tel: +91 40 5562 7200