ATD Bioseek

 

TIDMATD 
 
RNS Number : 1375N 
Asterand PLC 
07 June 2010 
 

+-------------------------------------+--------------------------------+ 
|   For Immediate Release             |                    7 June 2010 | 
+-------------------------------------+--------------------------------+ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
              EPA Extends Asterand's Role in ToxCast (TM) Program 
BioMAP  predictive models to screen compounds for environmental and human health 
                                    impact 
 
 
Asterand plc (LSE: ATD), a leading human-based solutions provider to 
pharmaceutical companies engaged in drug discovery research, today announced 
that the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has extended its 
Phase II funding commitment to Asterand's subsidiary BioSeek LLC under the 
agency's ToxCast(TM) screening programme.  This extension is for an additional 
$1.5 million, to profile the biological properties of chemical compounds, and is 
in addition to the $1.7 million commitment for Phase II announced in June 2009. 
BioSeek remains eligible to participate in further phases of the program and its 
eventual implementation. 
 
The current Phase II project expands upon the successful completion of the proof 
of concept Phase I study, which began in 2007 with BioSeek, Inc., prior to its 
merger with Asterand. The Phase I program utilized the unique BioMAP  Systems to 
assess the potential of in vitro human primary cell-based assays to predict the 
impact of environmental chemicals on human health. Under the Phase II project, 
approximately 750 compounds and nanomaterials will be screened. The long-term 
goal of the ToxCastTM program is to identify in vitro assays that can predict 
the toxicity of chemical compounds and other materials in humans and animals. 
 
 
Asterand's CEO, Martyn Coombs, commented: 
 
 "We view the EPA's efforts to develop improved methods of predicting the 
potential health risks of environmental chemicals through its ToxCast(TM) 
programme as being of vital importance.  The BioMAP  System offers a unique 
platform to analyse chemicals and predict potentially adverse toxicology and 
help prioritise further safety tests. We are delighted that the EPA has chosen 
to expand its contract with BioSeek and look forward to continuing our support 
of this important programme." 
 
 
BioMAP  Systems, a biological compound profiling and drug discovery platform is 
Asterand's newest offering through the recent acquisition of BioSeek LLC. 
BioMAP  screening platform uses complex human primary cell cultures to replicate 
the intricate cell and pathway interactions observed in vivo, and in this way 
provides meaningful in vitro biology data which directly relate to human 
pharmacology and toxicology. 
 
 
                                  -     END - 
 
 
 
Contacts: 
 
Asterand plc 
Martyn Coombs, Chief Executive Officer                              Tel: + 44 
(0) 1763 211 600 / 
       + 1 (313) 263-0960 
John Stchur, Chief Financial Officer                                       As 
above 
 
Buchanan Communications 
Lisa Baderoon / Mark Court / Isabel Podda                            Tel: +44 
(0) 20 7466 5000 
 
Cenkos Securities plc 
Stephen Keys / Beth McKiernan                                             Tel: + 
44 (0) 20 7397 8924 
 
Daniel Stewart & Company plc 
Martin Lampshire 
   Tel: +44 (0) 20 7776 6550 
 
About Asterand 
 
Asterand plc is a leading supplier of high quality human tissue and tissue-based 
services. Our comprehensive approach to human tissue and research services 
offers pharmaceutical, biotech and diagnostic companies the unique opportunity 
to have one company meet all of their human biomaterial needs along the 
continuum of drug discovery and development. BioSeek LLC, a wholly-owned 
subsidiary of Asterand plc, is improving the success rate of pharmaceutical 
research and development by integrating human biology from the earliest stages 
of drug discovery onward through its unique BioMAP  predictive human-based 
models. Our mission is to accelerate target discovery and drug compound 
validation and enable our clients to take safer and more effective drugs into 
the market. 
 
For more information about Asterand and BioSeek, please visit www.asterand.com. 
 
About the US EPA ToxCastTM Program 
 
The U.S. EPA ToxCastTM Program is developing approaches to predict chemical 
toxicity using data from high-throughput and high content in vitro assays. The 
goal of ToxCastTM is to develop and verify "toxicity signatures," which are 
algorithms using in vitro and in silico data to predict in vivo toxicities. 
Phase I of ToxCastTM has produced data from >300 chemicals, 500 in vitro assays 
and 100 in vivo endpoints, providing a powerful dataset for evaluating the 
applicability of various analytic approaches for predicting the potential for an 
adverse response. The initial results from Phase I of the ToxCastTM program were 
presented on May 14-15, 2009 at the First ToxCastTM Data Analysis Summit held in 
Research Triangle Park, NC. Phase II of the ToxCastTM program will expand on and 
verify the ability of this approach to predict potential human toxicity. In 
Phase III, ToxCastTM will expand the list to thousands of environmental 
chemicals, delivering an affordable, science-based system for decision-makers to 
prioritize chemicals for more detailed toxicological evaluations. 
 
This information is provided by RNS 
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange 
   END 
 
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