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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Aventis Drug Deal Gives Lift to UnionBio’s Profile Mass High Tech 1/1/01| By Adria Cimino As Union Biometrica Inc’s biggest collaborator yet, French pharmaceutical giant Aventis has agreed to take the company’s technology to the next level. Aventis will provide funding to advance the Holliston-based company’s drug screening system and will use the system as part of its own research. Aventis develops drugs, vaccines, therapeutic proteins, and products for crop protection, animal health and nutrition. Financial details of the deal with Union were not released. The funds will “improve and advance the technology in ways that without the collaboration we would not have chosen to do at this time,” said David Deems, Union’s chief executive officer. Union Biometrica’s screening tool involves the use of small organisms such as the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. This tiny worm is a strong research model because a large percentage of human genes also are present in C. elegans. Union’s tool is designed to work with the nematode, fruit fly or other small animal models. Nematodes have a high number of neurons, so they are good models for scientists exploring diseases of the human nervous system. They do not have a cardiovascular system, so they cannot be used for that kind of study. “The value of the nematode is growing now because it was the first small organism to have its genome sequenced,” Deems said. Through Union’s screening system, nematodes in a solution are quickly sampled. The worms pass one by one through a laser beam that distinguishes types of nematodes, and they are sorted into small trays. Researchers then can study the nematode’ reaction to potential drug candidates. Because their life span is just a few days long, drug effects during a lifetime also can be observed. This screening system replaces the conventional method where scientists using microscopes manually select worms for their studies. Through Union’s system, 100 nematodes per second can be processed. “It’s very labor-saving,” Deems said. The platform was launched about two years ago after Union designed it to suit a particular pharmaceutical company’s needs. When Union realized how broad the utility could be, it began offering the platform to other customers. With the availability of genomic data, “the big hurdle is to understand, how does that actual gene sequence relate to biological function?” Deems said. Union works with its partners to help uncover the link between compounds and biological function. As part of the deal, Aventis scientists will work with Union’s technology on location in Holliston. Union also will place one of its screening systems at the Aventis Center for Functional Genomics in Martinsried, Germany for the analysis of C. elegans‘ gene function. Money provided through the 18-month collaboration will include the funding of Union’s own scientific staff to develop screens and to boost the current technology. Improvements would include increased capabilities like the availability of additional information as the organism passes through the machine. Aventis will be the first to have access to new technology developed through the deal. Union Biometrica, founded in 1994, creates customized research systems for drug discoveries in the pharmaceutical and biomedical communities. |
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| © 2007 Union Biometrica, Inc. | ||||