MANCHESTER, England and CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, June 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Retrogenix today announces that it has opened its first office in the United States - the fastest growing regional market for the UK-based biotech which provides drug target screening services to global pharmaceutical clients. Retrogenix's location in Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA, places the company close to its client base and within an internationally-recognised hub for innovative life science research and development.

The company's technology identifies which of the body's thousands of cell surface proteins are targeted by drug candidates and other molecules, including natural proteins and viruses. This unique technology has many applications in medical and pharmaceutical research and was recently pivotal in the discovery of a key receptor associated with severe malaria in children, a breakthrough which was reported in the journal Nature.

Retrogenix's rapid growth is being fuelled by its unrivalled success rates in deconvoluting the targets of molecules identified through phenotypic screening, removing a major bottleneck in drug discovery. Recent advances in phenotypic screening have created high demand for the rapid identification of novel, disease-relevant, exploitable drug targets along with the information required to prioritise the most promising drug candidates and assess potential toxicity issues at an early stage.

Dr Jim Freeth, Managing Director of Retrogenix, said: "We work with the majority of the world's top pharmaceutical companies, many of whom have sites in and around the Cambridge area. The success rates we achieve through applying our cell microarray technology are enhanced by close communication and collaboration with clients throughout each project. We now have an ideal base to maintain our existing relationships and offer our unique service to other innovative drug developers."

Jo Soden, Executive Director, commented: "As the U.S. is currently Retrogenix's fastest-growing market there is significant momentum to take this natural step in the company's progression. Globally, there is high demand for Retrogenix's technology. Our strategic positioning in the centre of a major life sciences hub in Massachusetts will provide us with even greater opportunities to serve our customers and continue to make the drug discovery process more efficient."

The Retrogenix office is located at the Cambridge Innovation Center, Kendall Square, Cambridge, MA.

About Retrogenix  

Retrogenix's proprietary cell microarray technology provides a fast, accurate and effective solution for determining the primary target and secondary target (off-target) activities of antibodies, proteins, small molecules and viruses. Microarrays of over 3,500 plasma membrane proteins expressed in human cells allow physiologically relevant interactions with test molecules or protein ligands to be identified with high sensitivity and specificity. The Retrogenix technology is widely used by major global pharmaceutical companies to advance drug discovery and development, predominantly in biologics research.

Retrogenix is headquartered in Whaley Bridge, near Manchester, UK.

http://www.retrogenix.com

Notes 

The malaria study was published in Nature 2013 (498: 502-5)

Spokespeople are available on request, for more information please contact:
Dr Elizabeth Kingsley
elizabeth.kingsley@retrogenix.com

   

SOURCE Retrogenix