SmartGene, Inc. Enters Collaboration with Virco Lab, Inc. to Enhance HIV Genotyping...

SmartGene, Inc. Enters Collaboration with Virco Lab, Inc. to Enhance HIV
Genotyping and Resistance Interpretation Services in US

RALEIGH, N.C., April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- SmartGene, Inc., a provider of novel
services for the management and analysis of genetic data, today announced a
marketing and distribution collaboration with Virco Lab, Inc., to help US
laboratories manage, analyze, and derive maximum benefit from their HIV
sequences. Virco will market SmartGene, Inc.'s secure, Web-based service
module, SmartGene(R) HIV, which is a unique, integrated, data management
solution encompassing various interpretation algorithms, multiple genetic
targets and cumulative resistance reporting.

The SmartGene HIV platform will allow laboratories using both SmartGene, Inc.
and Virco services to send an order for interpretation of sequence data by
Virco directly out of the SmartGene HIV module and then store the resulting
virco(R)TYPE HIV-1 resistance reports within their SmartGene database.

"HIV clinicians and laboratorians understand the importance of longitudinal
data to resistance assessment; they value the insight gained from
reinterpreting sequences with updated algorithms and comparing results derived
from different algorithms; they are interested in analyzing new genetic
targets, such as Integrase and Envelope. SmartGene HIV exquisitely meets these
needs," said David Ellis, President of SmartGene, Inc. "We have made excellent
progress introducing our modules supporting bacterial and fungal
identification by sequence analysis. As we expand the deployment of our
services for virology in the US, we are delighted to enter this collaboration
with Virco, a long-standing market leader for resistance testing and
interpretation in the HIV field."

About SmartGene, Inc.
SmartGene, Inc. is the North American subsidiary of SmartGene GmbH, a
privately-held company based in Zug, Switzerland, which provides its services
worldwide. SmartGene provides web-based suites of functionality to facilitate
sequence-based analysis for a variety of clinical, medical research, and
veterinary applications. Constant updates to reference data and interpretive
algorithms keep SmartGene's customers in step with evolving science and
improve the accuracy of sequence interpretation. SmartGene's integrated
services increase the speed to result for sequence-based diagnostics and
improve workflow in the laboratory. Current modules from SmartGene include
Bacteria, Fungi, HIV, HCV, MLST, Influenza, and HLA typing. Future
applications will address human genetics as well as food and environmental
pathogens. Discover more at www.smartgene.com.

SOURCE SmartGene, Inc.

David Ellis, President, +1-919-844-6145, dellis@smartgene.com