Asterand Extends Agreement With Bristol-Myers Squibb

Asterand has extended its collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb for access to the former’s products and services for up to three years. The agreement will focus on access to Asterand’s PhaseZero drug discovery services and Asterand’s XpressBanktm of human tissue and clinical samples for the continued validation of early drug targets and support for compound optimisation.

Under the extended collaboration, Asterand will continue to undertake a range of PhaseZero studies for Bristol-Myers Squibb in the areas of compound profiling and target validation. PhaseZero studies include gene and protein expression profiling and cell-based pharmacology assays.

Likewise, Bristol-Myers Squibb will be granted access to Asterand’s XpressBanktm of human tissue, bio-fluid, and cell lines and may also utilize Asterand’s ProCuretm custom clinical sample collection service.

Martyn Coombs, CEO of Asterand, said: “This decision by Bristol-Myers Squibb is an important validation of Asterand’s products and services. Asterand provides human based solutions that improve decision making during the development of medicines.

“Our customers incorporate human tissue-based models at all stages of development from target identification to pre-clinical research. We are delighted that Bristol-Myers Squibb has renewed our collaboration and our team looks forward to continuing to support their target validation and compound optimisation programmes.”