Isis Innovation Oxagen Ltd - License Agreement on Asthma Genetic Work emanating from Professor Bill Cookson's Asthma Genetics Group, supported principally by the Wellcome Trust and the National Asthma Campaign, and based at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics, has resulted in a portfolio of patents in the areas of asthma and atopy. The intellectual property includes linkages, associations and single nucleotide polymorphisms.
Many factors appear to play a role in the aetiology and exacerbation of asthma.
Asthma is strongly familial and is due to the interaction between genetic and environmental factors. Allergen sources include house dust mites, domestic and farm animals and grass or tree pollens. The Agreement gives Oxagen an exclusive worldwide license to develop products and services based on the patented intellectual property. Professor Cookson and his laboratory have amassed an extensive collection of DNA samples from asthma families for use in their studies. Oxagen will also have access to this material.