INVITROGEN SIGNS BROAD KINASE SCREENING AGREEMENT WITH PLEXXIKON
Carlsbad, Calif. –April 6, 2005?Invitrogen Corporation (Nasdaq:IVGN), a provider of essential life science technologies for disease research and drug discovery, today announced that Plexxikon Inc. has contracted Invitrogen to provide kinase screening services in order to rapidly exploit Plexxikon proprietary kinase inhibitor libraries for the development of novel drug candidates in oncology, inflammation and other diseases. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
“Plexxikon anticipates that this strategic collaboration with Invitrogen will further accelerate Plexxikon's drug discovery efforts by complementing our Scaffold-Based Drug DiscoveryTM platform,” said Gideon E. Bollag, vice president, discovery biology of Plexxikon. “Invitrogen has created a screening service platform with the reliability of service, breadth of portfolio and quality of data that we need to rapidly identify novel lead compounds from our proprietary compound libraries.”
Invitrogen's SelectScreen? Kinase Profiling service utilizes the company's growing portfolio of purified protein kinase targets and the robust Z?-LYTE? kinase assay platform. This collection of kinase selectivity assays has been assembled to address therapeutically relevant targets, phylogenetic diversity and key signaling pathways. The current assay portfolio consists of a panel of 100 enzymes, which will expand to 140 enzymes on April 15th and will exceed 200 by the end of 2005. Invitrogen's portfolio of molecular assays is a key component of a unique kinase platform, which includes more than 180 distinct enzymes, RNAi tools, protein substrate arrays and CellSensor? live cell assays for functional pathway analysis. This platform provides matched and cross-validated molecular and cellular assays for improved efficiency in target identification and lead development programs.
“Our service agreement with Plexxikon further solidifies our position as a major enabler of kinase drug discovery,” said Nick Ecos, Invitrogen's General Manager of its Drug Discovery Solutions business. “By enabling parallel screening capabilities, we feel we can truly accelerate the development of tomorrow's therapies.”
Plexxikon’s Scaffold-Based Drug DiscoveryTM platform integrates state-of-the-art structural and computational technologies to guide small molecule drug discovery. This platform involves information-rich screening and detailed structural analysis as key components, providing a significant competitive advantage over other drug discovery approaches. Co-crystallography is applied at the earliest point in lead finding to address current challenges in pharmaceutical drug discovery today, by enabling the mining of novel chemical space, applying a unique quality filter, and by providing a roadmap for lead discovery and development chemistry. Utilizing this proprietary platform, Plexxikon has developed a portfolio of development and preclinical stage programs for metabolic disease, inflammation and oncology.
About Invitrogen
Invitrogen Corporation (Nasdaq:IVGN) provides products and services that support academic and government research institutions and pharmaceutical and biotech companies worldwide in their efforts to improve the human condition. The company provides essential life science technologies for disease research, drug discovery, and commercial bioproduction. Invitrogen's own research and development efforts are focused on breakthrough innovation in all major areas of biological discovery including functional genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics and cell biology, placing Invitrogen's products in nearly every major laboratory in the world. Founded in 1987, Invitrogen is headquartered in Carlsbad, California and conducts business in more than 70 countries around the world. The company globally employs approximately 4,500 scientists and other professionals and had revenues of more than $1 billion in 2004. For more information, visit www.invitrogen.com
Carlsbad, Calif. –April 6, 2005?Invitrogen Corporation (Nasdaq:IVGN), a provider of essential life science technologies for disease research and drug discovery, today announced that Plexxikon Inc. has contracted Invitrogen to provide kinase screening services in order to rapidly exploit Plexxikon proprietary kinase inhibitor libraries for the development of novel drug candidates in oncology, inflammation and other diseases. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
“Plexxikon anticipates that this strategic collaboration with Invitrogen will further accelerate Plexxikon's drug discovery efforts by complementing our Scaffold-Based Drug DiscoveryTM platform,” said Gideon E. Bollag, vice president, discovery biology of Plexxikon. “Invitrogen has created a screening service platform with the reliability of service, breadth of portfolio and quality of data that we need to rapidly identify novel lead compounds from our proprietary compound libraries.”
Invitrogen's SelectScreen? Kinase Profiling service utilizes the company's growing portfolio of purified protein kinase targets and the robust Z?-LYTE? kinase assay platform. This collection of kinase selectivity assays has been assembled to address therapeutically relevant targets, phylogenetic diversity and key signaling pathways. The current assay portfolio consists of a panel of 100 enzymes, which will expand to 140 enzymes on April 15th and will exceed 200 by the end of 2005. Invitrogen's portfolio of molecular assays is a key component of a unique kinase platform, which includes more than 180 distinct enzymes, RNAi tools, protein substrate arrays and CellSensor? live cell assays for functional pathway analysis. This platform provides matched and cross-validated molecular and cellular assays for improved efficiency in target identification and lead development programs.
“Our service agreement with Plexxikon further solidifies our position as a major enabler of kinase drug discovery,” said Nick Ecos, Invitrogen's General Manager of its Drug Discovery Solutions business. “By enabling parallel screening capabilities, we feel we can truly accelerate the development of tomorrow's therapies.”
Plexxikon’s Scaffold-Based Drug DiscoveryTM platform integrates state-of-the-art structural and computational technologies to guide small molecule drug discovery. This platform involves information-rich screening and detailed structural analysis as key components, providing a significant competitive advantage over other drug discovery approaches. Co-crystallography is applied at the earliest point in lead finding to address current challenges in pharmaceutical drug discovery today, by enabling the mining of novel chemical space, applying a unique quality filter, and by providing a roadmap for lead discovery and development chemistry. Utilizing this proprietary platform, Plexxikon has developed a portfolio of development and preclinical stage programs for metabolic disease, inflammation and oncology.
About Invitrogen
Invitrogen Corporation (Nasdaq:IVGN) provides products and services that support academic and government research institutions and pharmaceutical and biotech companies worldwide in their efforts to improve the human condition. The company provides essential life science technologies for disease research, drug discovery, and commercial bioproduction. Invitrogen's own research and development efforts are focused on breakthrough innovation in all major areas of biological discovery including functional genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics and cell biology, placing Invitrogen's products in nearly every major laboratory in the world. Founded in 1987, Invitrogen is headquartered in Carlsbad, California and conducts business in more than 70 countries around the world. The company globally employs approximately 4,500 scientists and other professionals and had revenues of more than $1 billion in 2004. For more information, visit www.invitrogen.com