Activiomics signs technology agreement with UCB

Dec. 6, 2010 - PRLog -- Activiomics today announces it has signed a technology agreement with UCB. Under the agreement, Activiomics will apply its novel TIQUAS (Targeted In-depth Quantification of cell Signalling) phospho-proteomics platform in a collaborative effort to elucidate signalling mechanisms of therapeutic antibodies in relevant cell-based systems.

Activiomics partners with Pharma and Biotech using its innovative mass spectrometry based methods to analyse and interpret cell signalling pathway activity, generating high value information for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.

Simon Lumb, the programme’s project leader at UCB said “We’ve engaged with Activiomics because we recognise that their TIQUAS technology has advantages for our inflammatory programme over other methods available. It’s quantitative, label-free and applicable to cell and tissue samples. This technology will enable us to better understand cell signalling mechanisms of our therapeutic antibodies and could enable us to identify important biomarkers”.

Dr Mark Warne, CEO of Activiomics, said: “We are delighted to have signed our second agreement and look forward to working with UCB. This represents a further endorsement of our technology which we believe has significant advantages over existing methods”

The company’s scientific founders are Dr Pedro Cutillas and Professor Bart Vanhaesebroeck from the Centre for Cell Signalling at the Institute of Cancer. Pedro Cutillas said: “It is rewarding to see our technologies being used in assisting the development of new drugs that will eventually benefit patients” - Bart Vanhaesebroeck commented “It is extremely pleasing to see our long-standing relationship with UCB now being extended, exploiting unique technologies and know-how developed at the Centre for Cell Signalling”.

About UCB

UCB, Brussels, Belgium (www.ucb.com) is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the research, development and commercialization of innovative medicines with a focus on the fields of central nervous system and immunology disorders. Employing more than 9 000 people in over 40 countries, UCB produced revenue of EUR 3.1 billion in 2009. UCB is listed on Euronext Brussels (symbol: UCB).

Forward looking statement

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on current plans, estimates and beliefs of management. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to be materially different from those that may be implied by such forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Important factors that could result in such differences include: changes in general economic, business and competitive conditions, effects of future judicial decisions, changes in regulation, exchange rate fluctuations and hiring and retention of its employees.

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About Activiomics Ltd

Activiomics is a privately owned spin-out company from the Institute of Cancer, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary, University of London. It has developed innovative technologies that utilise mass spectrometry to interrogate and interpret the activity of cellular signalling pathways, generating high value information for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. Its novel ‘TIQUAS’ platform enables the label free quantification of phosphopeptides for biomarker discovery and drug profiling. Unlike other phosphoproteomics techniques, TIQUAS can comprehensively profile and cross-compare phosphopeptides, ensuring accurate and reproducible data.