Commercial Partners

Asterand plc has provided human tissue based solutions to Top 30 pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide to accelerate drug discovery research and improve the advance of their compounds into the clinic. Over the years, Asterand has also partnered with other biotech and pharma companies, government organizations and academic institutions. Examples of such partnerships are as below:

Allergan, Inc.
In August 2008, Asterand entered into an exclusive license agreement with Allergan, Inc., a global, multi-specialty healthcare company, whereby Allergan obtained the rights to a series of compounds discovered and developed by Asterand. The compounds are selective, small molecule prostaglandin receptor agonists that have been shown in preclinical studies to be effective in reducing intraocular pressure. Allergan has the expertise, reputation and resources to further develop and commercialize these compounds to provide effective treatment for conditions and diseases of the eye, such as glaucoma. This license agreement represents a further example of Asterand realizing value from its legacy therapeutics IP portfolio.

Department of Defense (AFIP)
In October 2007, Asterand was awarded a contract to assess the condition and value of the Department of Defense Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) Tissue Repository by the US government.The DoD repository is the largest tissue bank in the world and is currently overseen and managed by the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. The AFIP was established by President Lincoln in 1862 and from its inception the sample repository has been the responsibility of the United States Army, in Washington, DC. Currently there are approximately 7.5 million cases that span the period 1917 to the present, and over 75 million samples associated with these cases. Asterand's vast amount of experience and expertise in the human tissue research arena, coupled with its strong informatics environment for organizing tissues and data, archives puts it in a favorable position to evaluate 75 million samples in AFIP's tissue repository. The AFIP Tissue Repository Contract with Asterand is for $2.9M over one year. At the end of this contract, Asterand will report on the current state of the repository and make recommendations for best practices and usage of this important biomedical resource.

Bristol - Myers Squibb (BMS)
In May 2007, Asterand entered into a three year agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company for access to Asterand's products and services. Under this extended collaboration, Asterand will undertake a range of PhaseZERO® studies for Bristol-Myers Squibb in the areas of compound profiling and target validation. Likewise, Bristol-Myers Squibb will be granted access to Asterand's XpressBANK^TM of human tissue, bio-fluid, and cell lines and may also utilize Asterand's ProCURE^TM custom clinical sample collection service.

Asterand's goal is to assist Bristol-Myers Squibb and other pharmaceutical companies in making the drug development process more effective and help them reach clinic with less cost and more confidence.

Agilent
In May 2007, Asterand partnered with Agilent Technologies Inc. to provide hundreds of RNA integrity profiles corresponding to 32 human tissue types from its extensive human tissue bank. These profiles formed the initial repository of information for Agilent's industry standard RNA Integrity Database. The database provides "Good/Degraded" profiles for each RNA sample combination and also provides a forum for discussing RNA profiles.

Information within the RNA Integrity Database allows scientists to pre-screen methods for experimental design and validate results across their own experiments and those of other labs. Agilent's Bioanalyzer has become the industry standard for RNA sample quality control and allows researchers to save money, time and gain extra confidence in their results.

BTG
In January 2006, Asterand entered into an exclusive agreement with BTG plc, a medical innovations company whereby BTG acquired the rights to a series of compounds discovered and developed by Asterand to treat painful conditions such as migraine headache. These compounds represent a valuable addition to BTG's growing drug development portfolio and also provide an opportunity to Asterand to realize the value of its therapeutic portfolio. Having completed preclinical development and Phase I, on 2nd April, 2009, BTG announced that Asterand's compound BGC20-1531, a novel EP4 receptor antagonist for the treatment of migraine headaches, is planned to enter Phase IIa studies in H2 2009 with data anticipated in H2 2010.

Baylor
In November 2005, Asterand entered into an agreement with Baylor College of Medicine (Texas, U.S.A.) whereby Asterand will supply high quality breast cancer human tissue samples and associated clinical data. This partnership endeavors to assist the Baylor College of Medicine replace years of research samples that were lost as a result of flooding that followed tropical storm Allison in 2001. Asterand’s high ethical standards and rigorous quality control protocols ensure that samples are optimum for research by these researchers.

Asterand has a successful track record of supplying samples to Baylor College of Medicine since 2005.