Geron, Exeter Affiliates Merge to Create Livestock Cloning Shop

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) - Geron and Exeter Life Sciences said today that Start Licensing, a joint venture between the two firms, and ViaGen, a subsidiary of Exeter, have merged to form a new entity that will focus on animal cloning.

Start manages and licenses a portfolio of intellectual property rights related to animal reproductive technologies, including nuclear transfer cloning technology that was developed at the Roslin Foundation to clone Dolly the sheep. ViaGen is an animal genomics and livestock cloning firm.

Geron and Exeter said that the merger of the firms combines the "full breadth" of Start's nuclear transfer cloning IP with ViaGen's in-house breeding services and expertise in advanced reproductive technologies, including cloning, "to provide a one-stop licensing and operating company" for animal cloning.

"We believe it makes sound business sense to join a patent estate for nuclear transfer that has been tested and is recognized as dominant with a leading operating company in the field," said David Greenwood, Geron's executive vice president and CFO, in a statement.

Jonathan Thatcher, Exeter Life Science's CEO, said that the combined...