The agreement in December 2003 established a collaboration to utilize molecular cytogenetics to identify and validate oncology targets. Avalon seeks to discover and develop novel therapeutics through the use of a proprietary suite of technologies based upon large-scale gene expression analysis which it calls AvalonRx.
“We have appreciated the close collaboration with Sanofi-Aventis on this program,” said Dr Paul Young, vice president of research for Avalon. “While they did not select any targets from this program, we expect to continue validation studies on several of the genes as potential Avalon drug discovery targets.”