About Asterand

Who We Are
Asterand plc is the leading global provider of high quality, well characterized human tissue and human tissue-based research solutions to drug discovery scientists. (Our mission is to provide human-based solutions to accelerate the identification and validation of drug targets and enhance the selection of drug candidates with an increased likelihood of clinical success).

Asterand plc has a well established human tissue heritage, having been formed in 2006 through the merger of Asterand (founded 2000), a human tissue biorepository and Pharmagene (founded 1996) a human tissue-based drug discovery company. Our expertise has been further strengthened following the acquisition of BioSeek in February 2010. BioSeek (founded 2000) brings proprietary, primary cell-based models of human disease biology that provide early insight into human pharmacological and toxicological properties of compounds through comparison of resulting data profiles with an established and growing database of profiles for known compounds.

With this background and capability in human tissue procurement, characterization and research, Asterand is uniquely positioned to provide a comprehensive approach to meet the research needs of pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnositic companies, as well as academia. From our offices in Detroit, MI Royston, U.K. and San Francisco, CA, we have more than 100 employees focused on providing services and products to accelerate drug discovery research from target identification through to compound evaluation and drug safety.

Serving a Critical Need
Pharmaceutical research is at a critical crossroads. As Research & Development (R&D) budgetscontinue to decline due to poor economic conditions, the number of new drug applications are also reducing due to the high failure rate in clinical trials.

Researchers have always known that animal models provide only a partial guide to drug response in humans. Thus, scientists are becoming increasingly reliant upon human tissue-based models to bridge this knowledge gap and improve decision making during the drug discovery and development..

Our Products
Asterand offers unparalleled access to human tissue through its worldwide network of 75 active collaborative donor institutions. Our XpressBANK^TM biobank contains several hundred thousand specimens from a broad range of therapeutic areas and with diverse ethnic representation. Our tissues provide high value to our clients because the quantity of material provided for each sample allows scientists to conduct multiple experiments using a single specimen. In addition, our renowned quality assurance procedures provide stringent controls on specimen collection and characterization and on the corresponding clinical data. As part of this process, we also independently confirm pathology and assess RNA integrity of our tissues. Our quality control results are provided to researchers before they purchase so they can choose samples that will best meet their scientific requirements. Through our ProCURE^TM service, human tissues and clinical data can also be custom collected to meet special requirements. This includes the collection of follow-up data related to patient outcome.

Our Services
Asterand's Services division offers exemplary scientific expertise in human tissue research, with experience in providing top multinational pharmaceutical companies with human tissue-based services since 1996. Through our PhaseZERO^® drug discovery services platform, we provide a collaborative scientific approach to deliver human tissue-based data on target & biomarker validation as well as compound potency, efficacy, disposition and safety. Our studies can be custom designed and are conducted on a fee-for-service basis where our clients own and retain all resulting IP and data.

Through our BioMAP^® platform, we provide a comprehensive panel of human primary cell based disease systems that replicate the intricate cellular interactions present in inflammatory, autoimmune, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Employing these automated systems enables pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to receive rapid input on mechanism of action, efficacy and side effect profiles of drug candidates, providing actionable data to guide lead selection and optimization.