IPK and Euroscreen Form Alliance for GPCR Drug Discovery

The Institute Pasteur Korea (IPK) and Euroscreen s.a. have announced a partnership to perform screening of G protein coupled receptors using internalization assays.

The development at the Institute Pasteur Korea of a visual-based High Throughput Screening platform is designed to offer opportunities for the identification of drug candidates activating receptor internalization while Euroscreen’s receptor cell lines and GPCR library compounds will provide the initial direction and components for this drug discovery collaboration.

This partnership takes thus advantage of both IPK expertise in the image analysis and HCS fields and Euroscreen competence in GPCR biology and Chemistry tools.

"We are delighted to be working with Euroscreen s.a. on this GPCR Drug Discovery project," commented Dr. Thierry Christophe, Head of Screening Technologies and Pharmacology at Institute Pasteur Korea.

"This partnership highlights the increasing interest in visual-based screening technologies to identify more selective drug candidates. It validates the screening approach we develop at IPK."

"Collaborating with one of the World’s leaders in the GPCR science sector signifies an important step in materialising IPK’s innovative approach. We are enthusiastic to have found a highly competent partner in Euroscreen, to take HCS screening to the next level," added Dr. Ulf Nehrbass, Director and CEO of IPK.

"This should provide our companies with a rapid, joint opportunity to develop drug candidates which selectively cause the internalization of GPCRs for their therapeutic action in vivo," said Dr. François Roman, the Head of Drug Development R&D at Euroscreen.