DETROIT, Aug. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Asterand plc is offering medical researchers the ability to obtain valuable gene expression data through its online gateway http://www.asterand.com/xpresswayprofiles . The new Xpressway(TM) service is the result of almost ten years of work by a team of Asterand researchers who have specialized in human tissue-based research. Scientists throughout the world can access the service through the company’s web site.
The objective is to assist medical researchers in understanding which genes are expressed in different parts of the body. Researchers will also be able to see how the gene expression in different human tissue types matches with the gene expression pattern in animals.
“The Xpressway(TM) profiles we provide can help researchers make important decisions in the early stages of drug discovery and development,” says Dr. Vici Blanc, Director of Product Development. “At the moment it takes 15 years and costs over $800 million to bring a new drug to market. Researchers can speed the process and cut the cost by understanding how specific genes are expressed in a range of tissues throughout the body.
“The data can help researchers validate a gene or genes that are being considered as targets for new drugs; it can help in assessing the problems associated with possible side effects, and it can also help researchers decide if human tissue research can replace or augment work currently conducted in animal models.”
So far Asterand has mapped over 2,000 genes in 72 tissue types found throughout the human body. The work began in the late 1990s at the company’s European laboratories in Royston, England under the direction of Dr. Robert A Coleman, and still continues. Asterand collects ethically consented human tissue samples from a worldwide network of over 70 major hospitals and clinics in Europe, North America, the Mediterranean, Africa and Asia.
“We have priced the service at a level that will be affordable to academic, government and commercial researchers,” comments Dr. Blanc. “The profiling of a single gene can be purchased by credit card for under $1,000. As one credit card company states, ‘That’s priceless.’”
For further information: contact Dr. Vici Blanc at 313-263-0960 or visit Asterand’s web site at http://www.asterand.com .
Asterand plc
CONTACT: Dr. Vici Blanc of Asterand, +1-313-263-0960
