San Diego, CA -January 24, 2005- Aviva Systems Biology, a biotechnology company dedicated to the development of novel platforms and solutions for the study of gene regulation, announced today that it has signed an agreement with the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) to exclusively license the rights to develop and commercialize technology for Gene Regulation Elements Mapping and Analysis (GREMA). GREMA technology was developed in the laboratory of Dr. Xiangdong Fu, a Professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). Dr. Fu is a leading researcher in the field of gene regulation and a participant in NIH's ENCODE Consortium. Mr. Julian Yuan, CEO of Aviva Systems Biology states, "We are delighted to collaborate with UCSD to develop and deliver this technology to researchers around the world."

GREMA technology is a sensitive method for the detection of virtually all DNA fragments, such as promoters, which interact with proteins. Using its core bioinformatics capabilities Aviva Systems Biology has identified approximately 32,000 potential promoter sequences; 20,000 of these promoters have been incorporated into a DNA microarray. GREMA technology is designed to capture enriched signal from genomic DNA that is bound to proteins. This signal is then very efficiently amplified in an unbiased manner and followed by signal quantification on a microarray.

This technology has many important applications useful for the understanding of transcription factor/DNA interactions: transcriptional regulation, mRNA splicing, DNA damage repair, gene deletion and duplication, and many others. Identification of disease specific transcription factor promoters and how their binding is altered during the course of disease could lead to the discovery of new specific drug targets.