Ludwigshafen and Tutzing, Germany
August 31, 2011
baseclick GmbH, a spin-off from BASF SE and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, raised an additional €1.2 million from private investors and BASF Venture Capital, the largest single investor, in the second round of financing. The start-up company baseclick GmbH, founded in the year 2008, is located in Tutzing, Germany, and holds technology patents in labeling processes of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) .
“We will use the capital raised to expand our existing activities in DNA-technologies,” says Dr. Thomas Frischmuth, General Manager of baseclick GmbH. In addition, the company will build up a business for diagnostic technologies.
The baseclick technology allows users to label multiple dye molecules on DNA strands in a sequence-specific manner. This process is more efficient, more cost effective and simpler than conventional technologies. The attachment of multiple dyes enables several or highly complex analyses to be carried out in a single operation. Applications include analyses for pathogens like HIV, hepatitis, or even tumor cells. The technique can also be used to detect mutations in human, animal and plant genomes.
The baseclick technology is based on click chemistry research by Professor Barry Sharpless (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2001) of The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California. Professor Thomas Carell of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich, Germany, has advanced the technology so that nucleic acids can be modified. baseclick GmbH has obtained a worldwide license from The Scripps Research Institute to practice click chemistry in its field of research.
Headquartered in Tutzing near Munich, baseclick GmbH was founded in April 2008. Along with its expertise, baseclick GmbH offers to support customers with licenses on labeling processes and some 90 high-quality dyes and labels. The basic patent on copper-catalyzed click reactions on nucleic acids was granted by the European Patent Office in 2010. More information about baseclick GmbH is available at www.basecklick.eu
BASF Venture Capital GmbH was established in 2001 as a wholly owned subsidiary of BASF Future Business GmbH, Ludwigshafen, Germany, with the aim of exploring new growth potentials based on investment in startup companies and funds.More information about BASF Venture Capital GmbH is available at www.basf-vc.de
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