Here is why I like genomeweb.com . . .
Compare this newswire story with the genomeweb story. Note the former contains the standard Investor Relations patter, while the latter cites the study on which the technology is based and its limitations, etc.
siliconinvestor.com
>>New York, New York, Oct. 23, 2000 (Market News Publishing via COMTEX) -- Packard BioScience Company announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary BioSignal Packard, Inc. has been awarded a greatly expanded screening contract with AstraZeneca R&D Montreal in St. Laurent, Quebec. The contract, valued at US $5.5 million follows on the heels of a three-year contract between the two companies, which ended last month. Under the terms of the agreement, BioSignal Packard's technologies will be used to test AstraZeneca's combinatorial compound libraries against a defined selection of G protein- coupled receptors (GPCRs).
AstraZeneca uses a novel screening approach, named "Focused Library Screening," developed with BioSignal Packard, which involves the rapid testing of a limited number of compounds against a panel of structurally diverse GPCR targets. Based on the results, new sets of compounds are designed and synthesized by AstraZeneca using combinatorial chemistry and then tested by BioSignal Packard against the same diverse GPCR set. This iterative process enables AstraZeneca to rapidly identify the important molecular determinants in compounds, refine their structure and quickly develop selective drugs for defined targets. As part of the expanded agreement, BioSignal Packard's newly developed BRET2(TM) technology will be used specifically for screening against a collection of AstraZeneca's GPCRs.
"AstraZeneca's relationship with BioSignal Packard continues to be very successful and productive," stated Dr. Jan M Lundberg, Senior Vice President, Global Discovery of AstraZeneca. "The Focused Library Screening program has accelerated our drug discovery operations. With its broad target portfolio, efficient operation and emphasis on the development of new technologies, BioSignal Packard is a highly valuable partner," said Dr. Philippe Walker, Vice President, Discovery of AstraZeneca R&D Montreal.
"BioSignal Packard and AstraZeneca have enjoyed a close partnership over the last three years that has proved both challenging and rewarding," said Dr. Daniel Chelsky, President of BioSignal Packard, Inc. "Working with such an innovative partner, of global importance, has helped drive our own development as a provider of advanced assay technologies and services. In addition to revenue growth, the expanded agreement provides an excellent opportunity to more broadly apply our recently introduced BRET2(TM) technology for proteomics."
BioSignal Packard develops and supplies products, services and enabling technologies for drug discovery. Its current offerings include over 100 GPCR- based products, Gene2Screen(TM) custom assay development, and High Throughput Screening (HTS) services. BioSignal Packard has also recently developed and commercialized AlphaScreen(TM), a new ultra-sensitive detection technology for HTS. BioSignal Packard reagents can be combined with instrumentation from its sister companies Packard Instrument Company, Inc and CCS Packard, Inc., such as the AlphaQuest(TM) and Fusion(TM) microplate analyzers and the PlateTrak(TM) microplate processor, to provide a highly robust approach to miniaturization and HTS for the pharmaceutical industry.
AstraZeneca is one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies with a formidable product portfolio spanning seven major therapeutic areas: cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, oncology, pain control, respiratory, central nervous system and anti-infectives. AstraZeneca's brands include Atacand(R), Losec(R), Xylocaine(R), Arimidex(R), Diprivan(R), Pulmicort(R), Zomig(R) and Seroquel(R). The Canandian headquarters and manufacturing facilities of AstraZeneca are located in Mississauga, Ontario, with a state-of-the art research centre based in Montreal, Quebec.
Packard BioScience Company is a leading global developer, manufacturer and marketer of instruments and related consumables and services for use in the life sciences research industry. The Company is primarily focused on the rapidly growing areas of drug discovery, genomics and biochip analysis and is continuing to develop integrated platforms based on a wide range of technologies and instrumentation. These platforms are designed to support the industrialization of drug discovery by endowing these areas with the benefits of miniaturization, automation and ultra-high throughput analysis. Packard's experience in working in more than 60 countries with market leading customers has allowed the Company to establish a worldwide leadership position in many of its primary product categories, with well-recognized brand names and a reputation for high quality, reliable instruments.
Certain statements contained herein are "forward-looking" statements which involve a high degree of risk and uncertainty. Many factors could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements including, without limitation, loss of market share from competition, our ability to successfully introduce new products and platforms, our ability to protect our intellectual property, not infringing on the intellectual property rights of others, changes in the markets we serve and economic issues such as interest rate and foreign exchange fluctuations. These and other risk factors are discussed in detail in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.<<
genomeweb.com
>>NEW YORK, Oct 23 - Packard BioScience said Monday its wholly-owned subsidiary BioSignal Packard had entered into a $5.5 million proteomics contract with Astra Zeneca's R&D arm in St. Laurent, Quebec.
The contract follows a previous three-year agreement between the two companies to
conduct high-throughput screening for AstraZeneca's compounds. This agreement involved an initial $1 million research payment and undisclosed milestone payments.
Under the new agreement, AstraZeneca researchers will use BioSignal Packard’s new bioluminescence resonance energy transfer technology, or BRET 2 , to screen its library of combinatorial compounds against a group of G-protein-coupled receptors.
”In addition to revenue growth, the expanded agreement provides an excellent
opportunity to more broadly apply our recently introduced BRET 2 technology
for proteomics,” Daniel Chelsky, president of BioSignal Packard, said in a
statement.
AstraZeneca is the first company to publicly announce using BRET 2 in its research.
BRET 2 uses blue Renilla luciferase and a substrate, DeepBlueC, along with its green fluorescent protein, to test two proteins that are expected to interact with one another in a cell.
The luciferase and DeepBlueC, which emit blue light when combined, are attached to one protein, and the green fluorescent protein is attached to the other. When the luciferase and green fluorescent protein are close together, the green fluorescent protein will absorb the blue light and re-emit it as green light.
By measuring the proportion of blue light wavelengths to green light wavelengths emitted in this interaction between proteins, scientists can determine the distance at which the proteins interact and how long they interact.
BRET technology has advantages over traditional yeast-yeast based assays for
studying protein interaction, according to a January 5, 1999 article in the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . That article, by Vanderbilt University
biologist Yao Xu and his colleagues, said that BRET offers fewer cell-specific limitations and can more readily be used for high-throughput screening.
But the technology also has limitations, Xu warned. The proteins may interact in such a way that the luciferase and green fluorescent protein are not close enough to exchange light energy. Hence a negative result would not prove non-interaction. But this limitation is also present in other assays, he said.
AstraZeneca is combining this BRET technology, with a screening approach, “Focused Library Screening,” that it developed with BioSignal Packard. Focused Library Screening involves the rapid testing of a limited number of compounds against a panel of structurally diverse GPCR targets. AstraZeneca believes this screening process will help it quickly identify and develop drugs for defined targets.
”The Focused Library Screening program has accelerated our drug discovery operations,” Philippe Walker, vice president of discovery at AstraZeneca R&D, said in a statement. “With its broad target portfolio, efficient operation and emphasis on the development of new technologies, BioSignal Packard is a highly valuable partner.”<<
I find the latter much more informative. GenomeWeb will be my new news source.
Cheers, Tuck |
