Fisher Biosciences, through Fisher Scientific, has entered into an expanded PCR (polymerase chain reaction) licensing agreement with Applied Biosystems, an Applera business. Under the agreement, Fisher Biosciences will develop new real-time PCR and PCR-related reagents.

PCR is a key technology in which a segment of DNA or RNA is copied or “amplified” so that it can be more readily analyzed. Real-time PCR enables the detection of amplified DNA during the process of amplification rather than at the end, providing greater accuracy in applications such as gene expression quantification and genotyping.

Fisher will have access to patents not covered in Applied Biosystems’ original licensing program. This enables ABgene, a unit of Fisher Biosciences and a licensee under the groups’ original program, to offer optimized reagents and kits for a wide range of PCR and real-time PCR instruments. The new agreement also allows ABgene to develop a broad range of new real-time PCR reagent products and technologies through collaboration with other Fisher Biosciences units.

“We are excited by the value that real-time PCR brings to our customers in the rapidly growing life science research market,” said Ron Lowy, president and chief executive officer of Fisher Biosciences. “With this expanded license, we are well-positioned to respond to our customers’ needs. As always, we are committed to developing new products and technologies that serve the changing demands of science.”