Amersham Pharmacia Biotech and BioImage collaborate on cell- based screening

"Tracking" protein has potential to ease the bottleneck in identifying new drug targets

Amersham Pharmacia Biotech (APB; Piscataway, NJ) and BioImage (Soeborg, Denmark) will collaborate on a new cell-based screening technology based on green fluorescent protein (GFP). Under the terms of the agreement, APBiotech will gain an exclusive license to BioImage's European patent portfolio on GFP, including the right to sublicense the technology.

GFP has several applications in drug discovery, specifically as a 'tracking device' within a cell, allowing researcher detail production and movement of proteins inside the cell. In drug discovery research, GFP can help evaluate the potential of a drug candidate.

"GFP addresses a key problem in drug discovery by giving a detailed picture of how the drug candidate interacts with the cell," said Neil Cook, VP of Drug Discovery at APB. "APBiotech is looking at using the technology in high-throughput and high-content cellular screening assays that will tell researchers early on whether a ‘hit' is worth pursuing further as a lead compound. The industry is demanding faster, cheaper, smarter technologies to cope with the increasing number of drug candidates. One of the big bottlenecks now is analyzing these 'hits' in cells."

APB will use GFP in its LEADseeker Homogenous Imaging System for new target discovery and screening. LEADseeker includes instrument, reagents, software and application support. The system revolutionized drug screening when it was launched in 1998 and is now used by many of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies.

GFP was originally identified in the luminescent jellyfish Aequorea victoria. Naturally occurring GFP functions best in cold seawater (around 10° C) but is of limited use at the higher temperatures required to run cellular assays. BioImage, however, has patents covering a mutation known as F64L, which enables GFP to assemble correctly at body/cell temperatures (37° C), making it ideal for use in these assays. At higher temperatures, F64L has increased solubility and fluorescence so that much less GFP is needed in the cells to give a usable signal.

For more information, contact Marcy Saack of APBiotech at 732-457-8056, or Ulrik Vejlsgaard of BioImage A/S at +45 44 43 34 44.

Edited by Angelo DePalma
Managing Editor, Drug Discovery Online and Pharmaceutical Online
adepalma@vertical.net