25 Jul 2014 07:00
PRESS RELEASE
25th July 2014
Horizon Discovery and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development and Commercialization Sign Collaboration Agreement
Horizon CombinatoRx to perform in-vitro cell line screening of OPDC clinical stage development candidates
Cambridge, UK, 25th July 2014: Horizon Discovery Group plc (LSE:HZD) (Horizon), a leading provider of research tools to support translational genomics and the development of personalized medicines, today announced its Horizon CombinatoRx division has been contracted by Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development and Commercialization, Inc. (OPDC) to perform in vitro cell line screening of certain OPDC development candidate(s). Pursuant to the terms of the contract, Horizon CombinatoRx will be paid $835,000 for work to be substantially completed during 2014.
Horizon Discovery completed the acquisition of the CombinatoRx service business and assets from Zalicus Inc. in June 2014. Horizon CombinatoRx provides its partners access to the unique cHTS platform and Chalice™ analytics software, which enable the screening and analysis of thousands of complementary drug combinations. Combined with Horizon's GENESIS™ (rAAV, CRISPR and ZFN) gene editing platform and X-MAN™ isogenic cell line technology, the company offers services including novel phenotypic cell-based screens with compound siRNA, shRNA and sgRNA (for CRISPR based screening) libraries.
Dr Darrin M Disley, Chief Executive Officer of Horizon Discovery Group plc, commented: "The contract with OPDC represents the continued commercial traction of the CombinatoRx business following the acquisition which was in line with the strategy outlined at the time of Horizon's IPO. We are delighted that OPDC has chosen to work with us on these screening projects."
Edwin Rock, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Director, Global Clinical Development, OPDC, said:"As combination therapies emerge as the standard of care in a range of indications, it is important that we identify effective multi-target mechanisms. Using the Horizon CombinatoRx platform to explore our clinical stage programs in the context of combinations may provide us with information to guide development."
ENDS
Notes to Editors
For further information from Horizon Discovery Group Plc, please contact:
Consilium Strategic Communications (Financial Media and Investor Relations)
Amber Bielecka / Mary-Jane Elliott / Jessica Hodgson / Matthew Neal
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3709 5701
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Zyme Communications (Trade and Regional Media)
Katie Odgaard
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Email: katie.odgaard@zymecommunications.com
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (NOMAD)
Corporate Finance: Freddy Crossley / Duncan Monteith / Fred Walsh
Broking: Tom Salvesen
Tel: +44 20 7886 2500
About Horizon Discovery www.horizondiscovery.com/
Horizon is a revenue-generating life science company supplying research tools to organizations engaged in genomics research and the development of personalized medicines. Horizon has a diverse and international customer base approaching 1,000 organizations across nearly 50 countries, including major pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostic companies as well as leading academic research centers. The Company supplies its products and services into multiple markets, estimated to total in excess of £29 billion by 2015.
Horizon's core capabilities are built around its proprietary translational genomics platform, GENESIS™, a high-precision and flexible suite of gene editing tools able to alter almost any endogenous gene sequence of human or mammalian cell-lines. Horizon offers almost 2,200 products, almost all of which are based on the application of GENESIS™ to generate cell lines that accurately model the disease-causing mutations found in genetically based diseases. These 'patients-in-a-test-tube' are being used by customers to identify the effect of individual or compound genetic mutations on drug activity, patient responsiveness, and resistance, which may lead to the successful prediction of which patient sub-groups will respond to currently available and future drug treatments.
In addition, Horizon provides GENASSIST™ CRISPR and rAAV gene editing tools, custom cell line generation services for research and bioproduction applications, quantitative molecular reference standards, contract research and custom screening services, custom shRNA development services and off-the-shelf validated shRNA (through Horizon's partner Sirion), and haploid cell lines (through Horizon's partner Haplogen). These latter partnerships provide Horizon with almost 11,000 further products for our customers.
Horizon is headquartered in Cambridge, UK, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM market under the ticker "HZD", for further information please visit: www.horizondiscovery.com.