VivoMedica plc (AIM:VVM) the pharmaware company, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a collaborative agreement with Cellartis AB to extend VivoMedica’s DrugPrintTM platform for use with cardiomyocytes derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESC). The combination of DrugPrintTM’s sophisticated proprietary waveform analysis with a novel human heart cell model for measuring drug induced effects is expected to provide hitherto unprecedented discriminatory power in cardiac safety screening.
DrugPrintTM is a preclinical tool for the early identification of potentially fatal cardio-toxic side effects of lead compounds in the drug discovery process. Accurate profiling of lead compounds early in the drug development cycle allows research and clinical trial funding to be more efficiently targeted towards compounds that are likely to succeed as safe effective pharmaceutical products, avoiding the costly and high profile withdrawals of drugs that had reached the market.
The agreement between VivoMedica plc and Cellartis AB, a Swedish / British biotechnology company leading in the development of hESC technologies for drug discovery research, toxicity testing and regenerative medicine, entails a study to evaluate drug-induced changes on hESC-derived heart cells. Cellartis is the world’s largest single source of defined hESC and has developed more than 30 well documented hESC lines. The cell work will be conducted at Cellartis’ facilities in Göteborg, Sweden. The combination of stem cells and the sophisticated analytical capabilities of VivoMedica’s DrugPrintTM system are expected to yield discriminatory power needed by the pharmaceutical and biotech industry and increasingly expected by the regulatory authorities. The potential human and financial benefits are substantial.
Dr Johan Hyllner, CSO of Cellartis AB, commented ‘There is a great need for improved and clinically relevant in vitro models for predicting adverse effects of new drugs. Human stem cell based models in combination with advanced hard- and software have the potential to meet this need.”
Peter Leyland, CEO of VivoMedica, commented “The evaluation of the safety and toxicity profiles of new drugs, and indeed existing drugs, on the heart has become of paramount concern to the pharmaceutical industry.
This collaboration is an exciting opportunity to combine our revolutionary technologies to develop a solution that could deliver significant benefits to the pharmaceutical industry”.
For further information, please contact:
VivoMedica
Peter Leyland, Chief Executive Officer
Susan Veness, Finance Director 01795 414460
Brewin Dolphin Investment Banking (NOMAD)
Mark Brady / Alison Barrow 0845 270 8600
Buchanan Communications
Diane Stewart / Catherine Breen / Tim Anderson 020 7466 5000
