Schering Plough announces new drug discovery strategy

Schering-Plough has announced a new drug discovery strategy which involves collaboration with Xenogen Biosciences.

The pharmaceutical manufacturer aims to improve target validation by using Serial Phenotyping Compression Technology (SPCT) as provided by Xenogen. This technology will be used to “characterise high value targets resulting from drug discovery research conducted by the Schering-Plough Research Institute”.

Using a battery of over 85 pharmacologically-validated challenge or bioassays, SPCT is used to evaluate the impact of high value targets both physiologically and behaviourally. Xenotype states the new agreement builds on a previous gene deal contributing to a more complete understanding of the biological effects resulting from the deletion of a gene’s function.

Caliper Life Sciences, which recently acquired Xenogenstates that it has complete over 2,500 transgenic and 800 gene targeting projects – with over 97 per cent success rate in delivering “transgenic founder or gene knockout lines to customers”, according to the Trading Markets.

Recently, Schering-Plough signed an agreement with Novartis and Merck to develop a once-daily treatment for asthma and chronic constructive pulmonary disease. The deal was forged with the intention of finding a commercial product for the treatment of such diseases, which combine the active ingredient in Novartis’ Asmanex with the once-daily beta2-agonist indacterol.

The combined therapy will be marketed as a single inhalation device and will incorporate the Multi-Link Vision coronary stent platform. Shares for the company rose following the announcement of the deal, according to Financial News.

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