Pharmatest to partner Valirx on GeneICE development

news-releasesPharmatest Services Ltd
November 4th 2015

Turku, Finland: – Oncology and skeletal disease specialist CRO Pharmatest Services Ltd (Pharmatest) has signed a three-year collaboration agreement with UK-based bioscience innovator Valirx to develop products based on the latter’s proprietary GeneICE technology.

During the project, Pharmatest will be responsible for developing GeneICE products and testing their efficacy in its preclinical cancer models.

GeneICE chromatin engineering

Pharmatest Services Ltd (Pharmatest) is a contract research organization that offers preclinical efficacy services for the pharmaceutical industry in the fields of oncology and skeletal diseases. London-based Valirx Plc is a biopharmaceutical company that specializes in developing technologies and products in oncology therapeutics and diagnostics.

Valirx’s proprietary GeneICE technology (“Gene inactivation by chromatin engineering”) enables selective silencing of the ‘rebellious’ genes that contribute too many diseases, including cancer. In preliminary studies GeneICE-based products have been shown to be effective in prostate, ovarian, pancreatic and lung cancer cell lines.

Eurostars partners

Jussi Halleen, CEO of Pharmatest comments: “This project continues our successful Eurostars-funded project D-SIST where we were partners with Valirx. I wish to thank Valirx for their trust in Pharmatest for continuing the collaboration and our fruitful business relationship in this very important project.”

Satu Vainikka, CEO of Valirx says: “Valirx is happy to enter into this three-year agreement with Pharmatest. The work that Pharmatest has done for Valirx in our other programs during the past years has been of very high quality and we are convinced that this agreement will substantially speed up the development of the GeneICE project.”

About Pharmatest

Pharmatest Services Ltd (Pharmatest) is a contract research organization (CRO) specializing in clinically predictive preclinical efficacy services in the therapeutic areas of oncology and skeletal diseases.

Pharmatest helps establish proof-of-efficacy of cancer drug candidates with cell culture assays, organotypic 3D models, orthotopic animal models, and disseminated cancer models. Its models of skeletal diseases include bone cell culture assays and animal models of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis that can also be used for bone safety testing.

Headquartered in Turku, Finland, Pharmatest’s preclinical research unit offers modern research facilities including fully equipped laboratories and barrier-type animal facilities.

The CRO has supported close to 100 clients from pharmaceutical and biotechnology organizations worldwide in research to develop new therapeutics against cancer and skeletal diseases. It has also assisted many nutraceutical companies in the development of new phytopharmaceutical products.

Pharmatest has developed a proven ability to reduce costs and notably increase the speed of drug development by processing outsourced preclinical efficacy testing with maximum efficiency and providing clients with access to latest translational tools for lead validation and proof-of-concept studies in oncology and skeletal diseases.