Expansion of its G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) portfolio, which has over 400 cell lines, will improve DiscoveRx’s ability to support its clients’ discovery and development programmes.
Sailaja Kuchibhatla, vice president of business development at DiscoveRx, told Outsourcing-Pharma that the first of the new platforms, called PathHunter β-Arrestin Ortholog GPCR assay, was formally launched in February.
These assays are fully validated, functional clonal cell lines expressing ortholog GPCRs which have been optimised to detect a full range of compound pharmacologies.
Using this platform can improve understanding of punitive leads, establish mechanism of action and delineate differential ligand-activated responses prior to testing in animal models.
The second platform, called PathHunter Activated GPCR internalisation assay, was launched last month. This is a non-imaging, non-antibody based platform which can give a direct, quantitative measurement of internalised GPCR localised to intracellular endosomes.
DiscoveRx is partnered with a number of contract research organisations (CRO), including Evotec, BioFocus, Jubilant and HD Biosciences, and these companies will also benefit from the expanded portfolio, added Kuchibhatla.
Response and expansion
Kuchibhatla said that DiscoveRx has already used the new platforms with a few clients under an early access programme and this has generated “a lot of interest”.
Companies will have a chance to see the platforms when DiscoveRx gives a tutorial at the Socienty of Biomolecular Science meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, US.
Kuchibhatla added that DiscoveRx has unveiled, but not formally launched, GPCR homo- and hetero-dimerization technology platform “which enables customers to discover novel drugs against known GPCR”.