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1st July 2003
Daniolabs and Sosei announce a collaboration
on the screening of the SOSEI drug reprofiling platformTM
compound library
DanioLabs
Ltd, the UK based drug discovery company which uses
zebrafish as a model for
human disease announced
today an agreement with the Japanese biopharmaceutical
company Sosei Co. Ltd. Under this agreement, DanioLabs
will screen the library of Sosei’s Drug Reprofiling
Platform™ in a variety of DanioLabs proprietary
disease models for novel activity, including models for
inflammatory bowel disease, osteoporosis, epilepsy, pain
and a range of other mainly neurological and ophthalmological
diseases.
Drug Reprofiling Platform™ has
a collection of drugs from a variety of Japanese pharmaceutical
companies.
These compounds have not been taken through to registration
for reasons other than toxicology or safety. These compounds
therefore may have potential in indications other than
the ones for which they were originally developed.
DanioLabs is a world leader in phenotype driven drug
discovery. It is bridging the gap between chemistry and
biology through the integration of a variety of approaches
to the identification of new chemical compounds, with
high-throughput in vivo screening models of important
human diseases. A major part of the DanioLabs platform
involves the use of zebrafish as an experimental species.
Using these models, the company is able to identify activity
of experimental compounds, and to provide the additional
evidence relevant to the treatment of the disease needed
to progress such compounds cost-effectively through the
drug development process. The advantages of the zebrafish
as an experimental organism include:
* Relevance:
- high degree of homology;
- similar pharmacology and physiology;
- vertebrates;
- similar genome size.
* Cost:
- highly fecund;
- easy care and maintenance;
* Features:
- transparency;
- size;
- sequenced genome.
DanioLabs build high-throughput disease models that
allow 96 well plate format in vivo screening. As well
as working with partners to develop new models and to
undertake screening campaigns, the company also use their
systems to identify their own novel therapeutics in the
areas of ophthalmology and neurological disease. As well
as identifying novel use opportunities, the company will
also develop chemistry around interesting novel targets.
Dr Paul Goldsmith, CSO of DanioLabs
said, “The
Sosei partnership fits well into our drug discovery program.
A very high percentage of drugs began their life in a
different indication. Our ability to rapidly recognise
additional novel indications for compounds which have
already been into man is immensely valuable and complements
our targeted chemistry and synthetic chemical approaches
to the identification of new therapies.”
Sosei is a leading private Japanese
biopharmaceutical company focused on drug development.
It enriches the
core product pipeline via in-licensing compounds from
Western and Japanese companies, by its distinctive Drug
Reprofiling Platform™ (DRP®) and through its
internal R&D programmes in collaboration with biopharmaceutical
companies and universities both in Japan and the West.
The company is capitalising on its extensive global network
established over the past 10 years in its successful
technology transfer business. Sosei’s investors
include experienced US/EU funds and Japanese institutional
investors.
Dr. Yuzo Tarumi, EVP of Research
and Development at Sosei, said "We are happy to welcome DanioLabs to
our Drug Reprofiling Platform (DRP®). We have active
collaborations with a number of companies with powerful
approaches for finding new uses for Japanese compounds
previously stalled in clinical development. We are excited
by the potential to carry out high throughput screening
of our compounds with this vertebrate model in a number
of disease models. DanioLabs brings a powerful new approach
to our DRP®."
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