Waltham, MA - Beyond
genomics, Inc. announced that it has entered into a pilot agreement with
AstraZeneca to apply its
systems biology expertise to the area of predictive
toxicology. Beyond Genomics (BG) will utilize its proprietary Systems Biology platforms and BioSystematics(TM)
informatics tools to analyze and integrate transcript, protein, and metabolite data in a study designed to discover
biomarkers of drug-induced
toxicity. Financial terms were not disclosed.
"By partnering with AstraZeneca, a global leader in pharmaceutical research and development, in the important area of toxicology, we can demonstrate that BG's Systems Biology approach delivers critical knowledge that can be applied to reduce development costs and advance drugs with improved safety profiles," Muz Mansuri, Executive Chairman of Beyond Genomics explained.
BG's proprietary Systems Biology platforms generate BioSystem Markers(TM), unique molecular "signatures" indicative of various biological states such as health, disease, therapeutic response, or, in the case of predictive toxicology, early
indicators of a toxic response. BioSystem Markers(TM) are discovered by using relevant human or animal samples and are comprised of one or more biomolecular class (e.g., transcript, protein, and metabolite) that, when evaluated together, are uniquely characteristic of a biological state.