Download Taconic and Oncodesign Announce Agreement to Co

Taconic and Oncodesign Announce Agreement to
Co-Promote and Co-Develop Solutions to Advance
Oncology Research
Hudson, New York and Dijon, France, October 24th, 2011– Taconic, a leading
provider of life sciences solutions, and Oncodesign®, an innovative leader in the
discovery of novel anti-cancer therapies, announces today that they have entered into
an agreement to co-develop and co-promote pre-clinical oncology in vivo solutions for
researchers worldwide. The agreement provides researchers with improved access to a
large, diverse portfolio of translational models for use in pre-clinical oncology studies,
along with supporting scientific services.
The combined Taconic-Oncodesign portfolio gives oncology researchers access to
powerful tools to advance their drug discovery and improve efficacy testing. This unique
offering features a broad spectrum of in vivo models – including Oncodesign’s Chi Mice®
- state-of-the-art preclinical models grafted with patient-derived xenografts and a
human immune system, to reproduce the human environment – as well as Taconic’s
genetically modified models of oncology and the DuPont™ OncoMouse®, providing
access to sophisticated spontaneous tumor models.
To complement this broad range of oncology-specific models, Taconic and Oncodesign
will provide highly sophisticated imaging technologies – from optical bioluminescent
imaging to MRI, PET and SPECT Pharm’Image® technologies for monitoring tumor
growth in vivo and ex vivo, and biomarker discovery – along with in vivo and in vitro
pharmacology research services.
In addition, both partners will combine their expertise in the use of immunodeficient
mouse models and co-develop novel applications of Taconic’s CIEA NOG mouse®. These
super-immunodeficient mice will be reconstituted with a human immune system and
patient-derived tumor tissues, providing an additional tool for testing of novel cancer
therapeutics in a physiological relevant setting.
“The partnership of Taconic and Oncodesign results in a single source for a wide-range
of translational disease-specific models and services in oncology, designed to increase
the efficiency of drug discovery and benefit basic oncology research,” said Dr. Paul
Rounding, senior vice president translational models and solutions, Taconic. “Both
companies employ innovative in vivo technologies to advance oncology drug discovery,
improve compound testing, and generate translational pre-clinical data. This synergistic
combination will provide our present and future Customers with access to broader
oncology platform of products, service and expertise.”
“With more than 800 cancer therapies currently in clinical development*, the demand
for innovative tools to improve and accelerate oncology research continues to increase,”
said Philippe Genne, president and chief executive officer, Oncodesign. ”By combining
our complementary technology, scientific and marketing resources and expertise, our
alliance with Taconic is providing investigators with unrivaled access to a comprehensive
set of predictive tools to improve anti-cancer therapies experimentation efficiency. We
are very pleased to collaborate with Taconic who is an international company sharing the
same ambition.”
* According to a 2010 report of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
About Oncodesign
Founded in 1995 and headed by Dr. Philippe Genne, Oncodesign® is a pioneer in the
preclinical assessment of anti-cancer therapies, a market that it has led for many years
now. Oncodesign’s mission consists of discovering effective anti-cancer therapies. Its
scientific expertise in pharmacology, imaging and medicinal chemistry, in addition to
strong project management skills, support the company’s two strategic activities of
experimentation and discovery, conducted in partnership with pharmaceutical and
biotechnology companies.
The experimentation activity is organized in three technological platforms: PREDICT®
specializes in conventional in vitro and in vivo pharmacology; Chi-Mice® focuses on the
development of in vivo chimeric humanized models; PharmImage® is dedicated to multimodal, non-invasive pharmaco-imaging. On the basis of these three platforms,
Oncodesign markets a broad range of products and services (fee-for-service) for the
assessment, validation, targeting and diagnostic linking of anticancer therapies.
In 2010, Oncodesign has incorporated a medicinal chemistry technology into its
discovery activity: Nanocyclix®, which is dedicated to the synthesis of highly potent and
selective novel kinase inhibitors. The combination of these four technological platforms
results in a unique and innovative translational research approach in a risk-sharing
approach between partners.
For more information, see: www.oncodesign.com.
About Taconic
Taconic is a leading provider of life sciences solutions to researchers worldwide, offering
innovative lab animal models and scientific services that facilitate in vivo studies and
advance drug discovery. Taconic’s wide range of advanced solutions include custom
model design, generation and production, imaging, off-the-shelf model repositories,
compound profiling, contract research, contract breeding, genetic monitoring and health
testing. Headquartered in New York’s Hudson River Valley, Taconic operates seven
breeding facilities and three service laboratories in the U.S. and Europe and maintains a
staff of over 1,000 scientific specialists committed to technological innovation.
Additional information about Taconic is available at www.taconic.com.
For Taconic media inquiries
Susan Fogt
Marketing Communications
[email protected]
Tel : 518.697.3962
For Oncodesign media inquiries
Andrew Lloyd & Associates
Vicky Leek / Andrew Lloyd
[email protected] / [email protected]
Tel : +44 1273 675 100