Protagen has entered into a distribution agreement for its bio-IT software product, Modiro - the PTM-Explorer with Tomy Digital Biology of Tokyo, Japan.
Modiro was launched in the market in March 2007, and the initial sales figures have demonstrated how valuable first-class software for the qualitative analysis of post-translational modifications (PTMs) is to protein researchers.
Protagen has been successful in positioning Modiro in both Europe and the USA, and expects increasing sales of the product in these markets.
Through this agreement with Tomy Digital Biology, Protagen will gain an established distributor for the commercialisation of its product in the Japanese market.
Tomy Digital Biology has been established for over 40 years and has a good reputation among Japan's researchers, supplying research institutes such as the Riken-Brain Institute and the Osaka National Research Institute.
The exclusive rights for distribution of Modiro in Japan granted to Tomy Digital Biology will help to secure its leading position as a professional provider of bio-IT software and associated products.
Post-translational protein modifications modulate the activity of many proteins and the analysis of these changes is of growing importance in the research and development of new drug candidates.
Modiro enables researchers to identify significantly more of these critical modifications using existing mass-spectrometry data.
In addition, by automating the identification of PTMs, the PTM-Explorer reduces the time needed for protein analysis.
Christoph Huls, CEO of Protagen, said: "The signing of this commercialisation agreement demonstrates the continued advance of Protagen into the Asian market, which began with the research collaboration with Kangdi Antibody Biotech and Bejing Proteome Research Centre announced earlier this year."
