President's Note
Asuragen, Inc. was formed following the March 2006 sale of the Research Products
Division of Ambion, Inc. to the Applied Biosystems Group. Now, Asuragen is comprised
of a key group of executives with prior industry experience from two leading global
diagnostic companies along with a core group of former Ambion scientists with unparalleled
expertise in microRNA (miRNA) applications and molecular technology development.
These principal competencies, combined with a well-developed business infrastructure,
have empowered Asuragen to provide cutting edge clinical diagnostic products.
During Asuragen’s two years of operations we have focused on positioning the Molecular
Diagnostics business for future growth and building our proprietary biomarker portfolio.
In 2007, we launched nine strategic new products; we completed nine major custom
products for our diagnostic and pharmaceutical customers. In 2008, we launched 6
new molecular diagnostic products including the world's first miRNA clinical test
for pancreatic cancer.
Our Research and Development team made significant progress in advancing several
novel microRNAs towards diagnostic and therapeutic applications and they continue
to contribute to our long-term business strategy of building a large, focused patent
portfolio. We continue to aggressively in-license patents and technology that we
will need for commercializing new products. A number of our key R&D programs
continue to be funded by the National Institute of Health’s SBIR/STTR program.
Our vision for the future is to create a leading molecular diagnostic company focused
on oncology and genetic disease. Molecular Diagnostics is a fast growing market
and will continue to play an important role in medical care by providing new approaches
to disease diagnosis and management. Asuragen continues to make great progress towards
establishing itself as the leading innovative molecular diagnostic company. We look
forward to serving our customers and continuing to launch products that make a difference
in healthcare.
Rolland Carlson - President