BioPontis Alliance LLC and Taconic Farms, Inc. Enter Into Scientific Development Partnership Around Genetically Modified Models for Translational Research

HUDSON, NY--(Marketwire - December 02, 2010) -

Taconic, a leading provider of life sciences solutions, announced that it has entered into a scientific development and preferred provider agreement with BioPontis Alliance LLC, a biomedical development company. BioPontis Alliance will employ Taconic’s translational genetically modified models and scientific services in preclinical research efforts to accelerate the advancement of new medical discoveries. Taconic has been supplying a wide range of such models to pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions for many years. Recently, with the development of its translational mouse models for ADME and oncology portfolios, Taconic has brought together collections of translational mouse models to specifically address disease and drug discovery related questions in oncology and drug metabolism. Taconic links these models into its compound profiling platform to provide an integrated product and service offering.

Through its development fund and a unique first-in-kind business model, BioPontis Alliance seeks to bridge the gap between academic discovery science and the development and commercialization of effective therapies. The company reduces early stage development risk by selecting promising science and working with its inventors to advance it toward drug or diagnostic product pipelines. BioPontis Alliance’s scientific and commercialization experts work in collaboration with leading university partners, focusing their efforts primarily on cancer, infectious disease and select neurological disorders.

“Of the thousands of biomedical innovations generated each year, only a few are successfully advanced toward drug discovery pipelines and eventually commercialized,” said Todd F. Little, Taconic President and CEO. “As a company dedicated to improving drug discovery and human health, Taconic is proud to work in partnership with BioPontis Alliance, a unique organization committed to turning promising innovations into effective biomedical therapies.”

Taconic will serve as BioPontis Alliance’s exclusive provider of genetically modified models used in oncology applications. Taconic is also the company’s preferred provider for in vivo clinical studies in the areas of oncology, neurology and infectious disease; compound profiling services; phenotyping services; and custom-generated models for use in preclinical efficacy and safety testing. To support its oncology initiatives, BioPontis also will leverage Taconic’s advanced bioluminescent imaging of tumor cells, along with its genetically modified models predisposed to tumor development.

“Sophisticated, precisely defined animal models are vital to the in vivo translational research that is the foundation of BioPontis Alliance’s mission,” said Dr. Barbara Handelin, President of BioPontis Alliance. “Taconic’s robust line of genetically modified models, advanced custom model generation services and reliable scientific services will serve as critical tools that enable us to help our partners turn promising science into successful medical products.”

About BioPontis Alliance LLC
BioPontis Alliance LLC, is an operating biomedical company created in 2009 to address a growing crisis in how the biopharmaceutical industry sources the refined validated scientific basis for its innovative therapeutic products. BioPontis, as a hybrid investment fund and scientific development company, invests across a portfolio of early stage technologies, and directly manages the pre clinical translational scientific development that readies discoveries for the product pipelines of the biopharmaceutical industry. The company has a unique, facilitated source of discovery science through its first-in-kind partnered consortium of leading universities and research institutions. BioPontis Alliance operates out of both the Research Triangle Park region and the Mid-Atlantic (Philadelphia), homes to the core of the biopharmaceutical industry and research expertise. BioPontis Alliance is committed to changing legacy structures and methods that have limited the productivity of the biomedical research engine in improving healthcare outcomes with important scientific discoveries.

About Taconic
Taconic is a leading provider of life sciences solutions to researchers worldwide, offering innovative lab animal models and scientific services that facilitate in vivo studies and advance drug discovery. Taconic’s wide range of advanced solutions include custom model design, generation and production, imaging, off-the-shelf model repositories, compound profiling, contract research, contract breeding, genetic monitoring and health testing. Headquartered in New York’s Hudson River Valley, Taconic operates seven breeding facilities and three service laboratories in the U.S. and Europe and maintains a staff of over 1,000 scientific specialists committed to technological innovation. Additional information about Taconic is available at www.taconic.com.