Metabolex and Iconix Enter Research Collaboration
HAYWARD, Calif. and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Aug. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Metabolex, Inc. and Iconix Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. (IPI) announced today the formation of a research collaboration focused on target validation and small-molecule drug
discovery for genes believed to influence diabetes.
Under the terms of the agreement, Iconix will apply its proprietary assay platform and chemical diversity library with the intent
of identifying small-molecule modulators of potential diabetes related genes identified by Metabolex. Further terms of the
agreement were not disclosed. Metabolex combines advanced genomic technologies and extensive diabetes-focused biological
expertise to identify novel gene targets expressed in tissue-specific and disease-specific contexts. Iconix's cell based assays
allow large numbers of novel gene products to be screened at the functional genomics stages of drug discovery as a way to
validate and prioritize targets and identify lead drug candidates for further research.
``This collaboration adds to the breadth of applications of our assay platform,' said Keith Bostian, President and Chief
Executive Officer of Iconix. ``We have developed a high-throughput assay construction factory to help Iconix's partners
leverage their investments in target identification and validation. We are delighted to be working with Metabolex, an established
leader in the application of genomic and biological approaches to the diabetes field.'
``We were attracted to Iconix's technology as a way to potentially facilitate earlier and improved decisions about which of
Metabolex's diabetes targets to advance for small-molecule drug discovery,' said Thomas A. Glaze, Chief Executive Officer of
Metabolex. ``We look forward to a productive collaboration.'
Metabolex, Inc. is a privately held company founded to develop therapeutics for diabetes and related metabolic diseases. The
company's goal is to combine its expertise in the biology of diabetes with a variety of technological approaches to develop
proprietary treatments that affect the principal causes of the disease. Metabolex now has three research programs partnered
with pharmaceutical companies. The first pharmaceutical program focuses on Glucose Transport Signal Transduction pathways,
and Metabolex has partnered the diabetes pharmaceutical aspects of this program with Abbott Laboratories as a component of
Abbott's major pharmaceutical discovery effort in diabetes. Metabolex's second pharmaceutical program, partnered with the
Parke-Davis Pharmaceutical Research Division of Warner-Lambert, is aimed at developing drugs to affect insulin secretion in
type 2 diabetes. The company's nutritional program, centered on its Insulin Potentiating Factor, has been licensed to Ross
Laboratories, a division of Abbott Laboratories.
Iconix's mission is to enable the rapid matching of gene products with interacting chemicals to advance functional genomics and
small-molecule drug discovery. Iconix has developed proprietary technologies for parallel construction of large libraries of
cell-based assays applicable for both characterized and uncharacterized gene products. These assays facilitate high-throughput
gene product-chemical matching. When applied broadly against a range of genomic targets, Iconix refers to this assay-driven
matching process as chemical genomics. The early discovery of chemical genomic relationships serves to both validate gene
products as drug targets and to provide an advanced starting point for drug development. Capable of being applied across a
wide range of potential gene targets, Iconix's assays provide the critical links between gene discovery, target validation, and
therapeutic product innovation. In addition to Metabolex, Iconix collaborates with Microcide Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq:
MCDE - news) its parent company, in the area of viral genomics and anti-viral drug discovery.
SOURCE: Iconix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. |
