Asterand plc's Subsidiary BioSeek, Inc. and Ono Pharmaceutical Company, Ltd. Initiate New Multi-Year Drug Discovery Collaboration

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. & OSAKA, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BioSeek, LLC, a subsidiary of Asterand plc (LSE: ATD), a pioneer in the application of predictive human biology to drug discovery, and Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., an R&D-oriented global specialty pharmaceuticals company, announced today that they have signed a new multi-year drug discovery collaboration agreement. Under the three-year research plan, BioSeek will apply its proprietary BioMAP® platform in an exclusive collaboration centered on a specific drug target class designated by Ono, performing phenotypic screening and for hit identification, lead optimization and clinical candidate selection. According to the agreement’s terms, BioSeek will receive research funding and milestone payments upon achievement of a certain milestone by a drug candidate discovered under this collaboration. Ono will have worldwide rights to develop and sell all pharmaceutical products discovered through the collaboration.