ActivX Biosciences and Kyorin Pharmaceutical Sign Second Drug Discovery and Development Collaboration Agreement.Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers BIOWIRE2K LA JOLLA La Jolla (lə hoi`yə), on the Pacific Ocean, S Calif., an uninc. district within the confines of San Diego; founded 1869. The beautiful ocean beaches, in particular La Jolla shores and Black's Beach, and sea-washed caves attract visitors and , Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 13, 2004 ActivX Biosciences, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company applying novel chemical technologies and high-throughput protein analysis to drug discovery and development, and Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan, announced today that they have entered into a new collaboration to develop protein activity profiles for certain Kyorin compounds. Under the agreement, ActivX agreed to utilize its proprietary technology to analyze specific protein activities to provide a greater understanding of the biological activity of Kyorin's compounds that have potential for the treatment of metabolic diseases metabolic disease, n a disorder that causes dysfunction of the metabolic action of the body, resulting in loss of control of homeostasis. paraneoplastic syndrome . Financial terms of the collaboration were not announced. In May 2002, ActivX and Kyorin announced their three-year collaboration to identify and optimize drug candidates for type II diabetes Type II diabetes Type II diabetes is the most common form of diabetes and usually appears in middle aged adults. It is often associated with obesity and may be delayed or controlled with diet and exercise. Mentioned in: Diabetic Ketoacidosis . Under this continuing collaboration, ActivX has primary responsibility for assay development, screening, profiling and selectivity selectivity /se·lec·tiv·i·ty/ (se-lek-tiv´i-te) in pharmacology, the degree to which a dose of a drug produces the desired effect in relation to adverse effects. selectivity 1. analysis of hit and lead compounds, and Kyorin has primary responsibility for medicinal chemistry Medicinal or pharmaceutical chemistry is a scientific discipline at the intersection of chemistry and pharmacology involved with designing, synthesizing and developing pharmaceutical drugs. and animal pharmacology pharmacology, study of the changes produced in living animals by chemical substances, especially the actions of drugs, substances used to treat disease. Systematic investigation of the effects of drugs based on animal experimentation and the use of isolated and , as well as clinical development. Currently the first candidate compound identified under the collaboration is in pre-clinical development Pre-clinical development is a stage in the development of a new drug that begins before clinical trials (testing in humans) can begin, and during which important safety and pharmacology data is collected. by Kyorin. "The results from our ongoing collaboration with ActivX have been very positive. We believe that ActivX's unique technology will be beneficial for evaluating protein activity and accelerating our drug discovery process in this class of potential drugs," said Mr. Ikuo Ogihara, President of Kyorin Pharmaceutical. "This new agreement with Kyorin is further validation of the value of ActivX's proprietary drug development technology and represents an exciting, new application," said Dr. John W. Kozarich, President and Chief R&D Officer of ActivX. "The program will permit us to demonstrate the power of our technology to predict the biological effects of compounds in development. This has been an elusive goal of genomics-driven drug discovery and we believe that ActivX's technology will add a new dimension to understanding the collateral and potentially undesirable effects that drugs have on protein activities. In this new project, Kyorin once again demonstrates their understanding of the value that ActivX technology can provide in the development of highly selective lead compounds," Dr. Kozarich added. About Kyorin Pharmaceutical Kyorin Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. (www.kyorin-pharm.co.jp) is a fully integrated, research-oriented pharmaceutical company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with a focus in the areas of infectious diseases infectious diseases: see communicable diseases. , immunology immunology, branch of medicine that studies the response of organisms to foreign substances, e.g., viruses, bacteria, and bacterial toxins (see immunity). Immunologists study the tissues and organs of the immune system (bone marrow, spleen, tonsils, thymus, lymphatic and allergic diseases and metabolic diseases. Some of its key products and development compounds include Norfloxacin (first new quinolone antibiotic licensed to Merck and Co.) and Gatifloxacin (novel new quinolone antibiotic licensed in the US to Bristol-Myers Squibb Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY), colloquially referred to as BMS, is a pharmaceutical corporation, formed by a 1989 merger between pharmaceutical companies Bristol-Myers Company, founded in 1887 by William McLaren Bristol and John Ripley Myers in Clinton, NY (both were ). It has extended its research capabilities through the establishment of Kyorin-Scotland Research Laboratories in conjunction with Scottish Biomedical bi·o·med·i·cal adj. 1. Of or relating to biomedicine. 2. Of, relating to, or involving biological, medical, and physical sciences. Foundation Limited and with the formation of an affiliate company, Nisshin Kyorin Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. About ActivX Biosciences ActivX Biosciences, Inc., based in La Jolla, California, is a privately held drug discovery and development company. ActivX's proprietary chemical technologies and high-throughput protein analysis capabilities are being applied to advancing both its own internal drug pipeline as well as the development efforts of its pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners. By focusing specifically on functional proteins, ActivX addresses disease mechanisms directly; taking an approach that differs from that of traditional drug discovery and development methods. ActivX technology address critical challenges in drug discovery, such as selectivity profiling of drug candidates across entire protein families in biological samples to guide their medicinal chemistry optimization; identification of novel drug targets and biomarkers; and characterization of off-target activities of candidate and established drugs to understand the basis for their efficacy and toxicity. For more information on ActivX Biosciences, please visit the company's Website at http://www.activx.com. |
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