BioSeek Initiates Collaboration with Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma

BioSeek, Inc. has announced that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma Co. (DSP). Under the collaboration, BioSeek will apply its BioMAP® Systems to support compound differentiation, lead development, and drug candidate selection activities for DSP's discovery programs in the fields of inflammation and metabolic diseases.

"We are excited to be working closely with DSP, a well respected and innovative global company, and look forward to supporting their discovery efforts," commented Michael C. Venuti, Ph.D., CEO of BioSeek. "This collaboration leverages our technology platform's power in addressing key decision points in the discovery process, making it extremely valuable to partners such as DSP."

"The BioMAP® platform represents a very compelling approach to applying human systems biology to pharmaceutical research and development," stated Dr. Yuichi Yokoyama, Executive Director at DSP. "BioMAP® Systems deliver otherwise difficult-to-obtain human biological information, which will help us prioritize leads and candidates."

CTC Laboratory Systems Corporation, a subsidiary of Itochu Techno- Solutions Corporation, assisted with the closing of this agreement.

BioMAP® Systems are a series of human primary cell-based assay systems designed to replicate the intricate cell and pathway interactions present in human disease biology. Depending on their mechanism of action, compounds induce specific patterns of changes in these systems (BioMAP profiles) that can be compared to a large number of reference profiles in BioSeek's database. BioMAP profiling provides early insight into human pharmacological properties of compounds including in-depth characterization of biological drug function, on- and off-target activities, and biomarker identification.