Asterand licenses diabetes assay platform from Capsant Neurotech

Asterand (LSE: ATD), a provider of human tissue and cell-based services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, has acquired an exclusive license on a worldwide basis from fellow UK-based, privately-held Capsant Neurotechnologies and the introduction of isletOrganDOT, a novel 3-D cell based assay platform for evaluating therapeutic compounds for diabetes. Financial terms were not revealed.

Thomas Mander, vice president sales and marketing at Asterand, noted: “Following a successful evaluation phase, we are extremely pleased to have secured an exclusive license from Capsant and to be launching the isletOrganDOT system today to add it to our growing suite of PhaseZERO human-based drug discovery services. Cell based models for diabetes research have relied on cell lines or intact rodent and human isolated islets, but both models have limitations. Asterand’s isletOrganDOT system offers advancements in functionality, throughput and study design, allowing us to provide our clients with relevant human data on the effects of test compounds in a rapid and reproducible manner.”