Absorption Systems, a world leader in novel test systems for drug transporters, announces the renewal of a technology licensing deal with Biogen.
After years of contract testing by Absorption Systems using MDR1-MDCK cells, Biogen licensed the technology associated with the test system from Absorption Systems in October 2015 and is renewing the license for another year. This cell line is stably transfected with the human MDR1 gene, which codes for a protein known as multi-drug resistance protein or P-glycoprotein (P-gp).
As a result of P-gp, drugs that show promising efficacy in the lab may be inaccessible to the organ of interest during clinical trials. MDR1-MDCK cells express P-gp at a high level and allow users to predict human outcomes during early-stage preclinical testing of their drug candidates.
Drug transporters such as P-gp have received increasing attention from drug regulatory bodies such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) because of their importance in drug absorption, excretion, and safety. This human MDR1 assay system enables Biogen to test new drug candidates for interactions with P-gp, which is involved in resistance of tumors to anticancer drugs, drug distribution and clearance, and drug-drug interactions (DDIs).
Absorption Systems is well known for its rigorous quality control programs and relentless tracking of cell line performance over time by using its proprietary CellPort Analytics™ software. These factors, along with the immense equity in terms of historical data on Biogen’s compounds, made a compelling argument for the company to renew the license from Absorption Systems.
