News Briefs: Ingenuity, Life Tech, Janssen, Evotec
October 4, 2012 | October news briefs in the life sciences.
Ingenuity Systems and Life Technologies are partnering to develop and deliver a joint solution for rapid, high-confidence interpretation of molecular profiling information from Life Technologies’ diagnostic tests. Ingenuity Systems’ software and content will be provided to interpreting physicians, such as molecular pathologists and medical geneticists, in a dedicated portal for the interpretation of Life’s molecular diagnostic test kits. Users of this interpretation portal will be able to review disease management guidelines, identify clinical trials, and find cutting- edge insights from biomedical research. Ingenuity Systems
Janssen Biotech has entered into a license agreement with Astellas Pharma for the worldwide development and commercialization, except in Japan, of ASP015K, an oral, small molecule Janus Kinase (JAK) inhibitor. ASP015K is currently in Phase 2b development as a once-daily oral treatment for moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA), following a successful Phase 2a study demonstrating its potential in the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Press release
Evotec has entered into a multi-year compound management agreement with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Health and Human Services, for the operation of a Small Molecule Repository. The contract (funded in its entirety by NIH) covers a period of up to ten years and has a total estimated value of up to $75 million. The NIH Small Molecule Repository (SMR) contract will continue to provide services initiated previously under a previous contract to acquire, store, maintain, and distribute the current library collection, supporting certain NIH-supported screening Centers conducting high-throughput screening (HTS) for probe and drug discovery. As part of continuing efforts to expand and support translational science, this contract resource will now be made available to select outside collaborators (in addition to the NIH screening efforts/programs). Library development efforts will continue to shape, improve, and expand the collection. Evotec
The United States Patent and Trademark Office issued patent No. 8,280,641 for a “Utility of Genomic Fractals Resulting in Fractals of Organisms” to HolGenTech founder Dr. Andras Pellionisz. This method and system is critical to the application of industrial genomics in clinical settings, most especially in the fight against cancer. The computation of genomic fractal defects can parse individual diversity from pathology, and thus represents a quantum leap in early diagnosis, personal therapy, and genome-based drug development. Press release
