| Introduction |
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Whilst the Company owns a diverse range of patents covering a number of areas of biotechnology, during the past seven years, Genetic Technologies Limited has conducted a successful out-licensing program involving its ubiquitous patents covering what is known as “non-coding DNA”. This valuable technology was created from research undertaken by the Company and involves proprietary methods for utilising the information contained within the non-coding regions of genes. The non-coding patents owned by the Company consist of two distinct families relating to intron sequence analysis and genomic mapping. The patent applications, which were filed in many jurisdictions, have since resulted in issued patents being awarded in 22 countries around the world, covering all genes in all complex species. Despite the upcoming expiry of some of these patents, others will not expire until 2015, so the opportunity to secure further licenses will exist for potentially a number of years to come. The technology covered by the non-coding patents finds application in a wide range of areas. The technology is used by diagnostic kit and equipment manufacturers, laboratory service providers and large agrigenetic companies, to name just a few (refer diagram).
To date, the licensing program, which has resulted in the granting of 36 commercial licenses and 6 research licenses, has generated total revenues in excess of $48 million, with a further $12 million to be received in the form of annuities and royalties, and as such it has historically been the major source of revenues for the Company. |
