Asterand plc’s Subsidiary BioSeek, LLC. Extends Collaboration with Merck Serono

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BioSeek, LLC, a subsidiary of Asterand plc (LSE: ATD), a pioneer in the application of predictive human biology to drug discovery, announced today that it has signed a new, three-year collaboration agreement with Merck Serono, a division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. The new agreement extends and expands the companies’ previous three-year agreement from 2009. Under the new research plan, BioSeek will expand the use of its proprietary BioMAP platform to evaluate Merck Serono small molecule compounds and proteins across multiple therapeutic areas in support of target differentiation, lead selection and optimization and nomination of candidates for preclinical development at Merck Serono.