XenoGesis and BioAscent Discovery announced a pact to integrate their drug discovery offerings, including services in medicinal chemistry, biology, drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics.
Both companies have been supported by the BioCity Group incubator and are based at its sites in Nottingham and Glasgow in the U.K. There, they provided work ranging from target evaluation to candidate nomination, as well as predicted clinical pharmacokinetics and doses.
BioAscent recently launched discovery services to build on its compound management and in-house compound library, the company’s CEO, Paul Smith, said in a statement. Last month it named Phil Jones as chief scientific officer, who previously held roles at Roche, Merck Sharpe & Dohme, Schering-Plough and Organon.
And earlier this year, XenoGesis launched a new service that identifies the top three metabolites of a compound through a single experiment, as well as its rate of intrinsic clearance in the liver.
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“This strategic alliance with XenoGesis means we can also offer specialist DMPK capabilities and assay evaluation to identify—at the earliest possible stage in the drug discovery process—those compounds that a client can take forward,” Smith added.
“Our two businesses are closely aligned and offer great synergies for our clients, to provide a quick and effective route to drug discovery,” said Richard Weaver, managing director of XenoGesis. “Together we will provide a seamless relationship that allows for iterative drug design programs, whilst reducing costs, improving timelines and increasing success rates for our clients.”