Madison's GenTel partners with Taiwan firm

Madison, Wis. - GenTel BioSurfaces, Inc., a privately held life sciences company, has partnered with Taiwan-based Abnova Corp., the world's largest monoclonal antibody manufacturer, to combine Abnova's protein and antibody content manufacturing capabilities with GenTel's new custom multiplex immunoassay development service.

GenTel's flagship technology, the PATHâ„¢ Protein Microarray System will be used to develop new custom multiplex immunoassays—surfaces upon which multiple immunological factors can be tested, as opposed to the single factor of an old-fashioned petri dish. PATH technology is based on ultra-thin nitrocellulose surface chemistry developed specifically for antibody arrays.

For the immunoassays to be useful, they must first be imprinted with the biological factors for researchers and clinicians to use in tests. The agreement will allow both firms to leverage Abnova's antibody manufacturing process towards end use for researchers and clinicians.

"The reason we did this deal is so that when our customers come to us and say, `I want you to develop a custom protein chip for me that has these 20 antibodies on it,' we can then go to Abnova," said GenTel President Alex Vodenlich.

Abnova specializes in high throughput, in vitro wheat germ protein expression and monoclonal antibody production consisting of industrial-scale SPF (Specific Pathogen Free) and cell culture facilities combined with sophisticated immunization technology, robotic monoclonal hybridomas isolation, and automated antibody screening.