Mar. 7, 2011 (PR Newswire) --
WASHINGTON, March 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- RainDance Technologies, Inc. and Ambry Genetics, today announced a new collaboration focused on the development and commercialization of a comprehensive drug absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) genetic screening panel for use on next-generation sequencing (NGS) systems. The announcement was made in conjunction with the Society of Toxicology's 50th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. Financial terms were not disclosed.
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ADME analysis is a critical part of the drug discovery and development process, providing important data on how a compound reaches the blood stream and whether distribution, metabolism and excretion are affected by factors such as age, sex, ethnicity or genetics. In recent years, the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries have been performing ADME screening earlier in an effort to reduce the significant costs associated with failed drug trials and hospitalizations due to adverse events. Scientific studies indicate that more effective indicators of atypical drug metabolism and molecular pharmacology could help reduce hospitalizations associated with adverse drug events by 50 percent or more.(1),(2)
Current genotyping tools for ADME research lack the genetic sensitivity, genomic coverage, and resolution necessary to detect many of the important mutations associated with adverse drug events. The new ADME panel developed by RainDance and Ambry will provide scientists with the capacity to perform sequence analysis of entire coding regions associated with more than 220 key drug metabolism-linked genes including transporters, receptors, regulators and all pharmacodynamics and pharmacogenetic genes, as well as all U.S.