AstraZeneca extends intelligence agreement with UK firm

AstraZeneca has extended its relationship with BioWisdom, a Cambridge-based company that delivers analytical products for drug development and research.

BioWisdom says the agreement will help AstraZeneca to “enhance” its drug development programme through the use of BioWisdom’s Intelligence Networks software, designed to organise and analyse data with respect to drug information so that better development decisions can be made.

David Cook, associate director of pathways capability at AstraZeneca, stated: “We have been working with BioWisdom for the past two years and have been impressed by the potential of its latest technology development to enhance our scientific understanding of the cause and effects around drug toxicity.”

He added: “By understanding the effects previous drugs have exhibited on drug toxicity biomarker profiles, in combination with clinical disorders and other factors, we hope to be better able to guide our own discovery and development activities in light of this new knowledge.”

Neither company has revealed the financial terms of the agreement.

BioWisdom’s chief executive officer, Gordon Smith Baxter, remarked: “By using our Intelligence Networks, AstraZeneca will be in a better position to make more informed decisions based on a coherent picture of all available data.”

The pharmaceutical intelligence company also has contracts with GlaxoSmithKline and Boehringer Ingelheim. One of its products, the Safety Intelligence Program, is designed to demonstrate the causes and consequences of certain drug toxicities in populations with different risk factors.

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