InvivoSciences® and Myomics Announce Partnership
InvivoSciences, LLC (IVS) and Myomics, Inc. (Providence, RI) announce a corporate partnership to provide high content compound screening services using 3D engineered tissue. Both Myomics and IVS have pioneered and perfected their technologies to mass-produce and assay miniaturized engineered human and animal tissues in standardized 96- and 384- well formats. Using their combined rich portfolio of technologies, the companies profile compounds that improve or impair physiology of tissues, including skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle and connective tissues, by automatically measuring their mechanical, contractile, and biological properties. In addition, these technologies provide comprehensive toxicity assessment of compounds. We offer a unique competitive advantage for our customers to develop products based on the best available physiological information for new drug discovery and product development for human and animal applications. The mission of both companies is to improve human health by enabling discovery and development of new therapeutics, with a focus on diseases with limited treatment options such as muscular dystrophy, scleroderma, lupus, and cardiac fibrosis.
“We’re pleased to combine the strength of our synergistic technologies, developed independently to satisfy the increased demand for compound screening systems that can predict a drug candidate’s actions on human tissues”, said Ayla Annac, co-founder and CEO of IVS.
Herman Vandenburgh, cofounder and CEO of Myomics agreed: “We believe that the services that we provide based on this partnership will have a profound positive impact on drug discovery by predicting efficacy and safety of compounds in the early stage of drug development using complex human tissue models. This will result in reduced late-stage attrition.”
About InvivoSciences, LLC: InvivoSciences, LLC, established in 2001, creates, manufactures and markets tools for three dimensional (3D) cell culture systems and provides compound screening services with them. Palpator TM is a robotic mechanical profiler for ultra-soft materials, such as biological tissues and engineered tissue constructs of various types including human engineered heart tissues. The tissue culture tools developed by IVS, MicroChamber- 8 TM (MC-8 TM) and IVS InsertsTM , enable fabrication, growth, assay and storage of engineered tissue constructs without removing them from wells. With a mechanical conditioning device, Tissue StretcherTM, tissue constructs can be cultured under repetitive mechanical stimuli. IVS has been successfully providing contract research services to identify lead compounds and novel product benefits for pharmaceutical, cosmetic, biotech, food, and chemical companies. www.invivosciences.com
About Myomics, Inc.: Myomics, Inc. was incorporated in Rhode Island in 2003. The company’s robotic MyoForce Analysis System™ (MFAS™) uses contractile three-dimensional human or mouse skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle, and smooth muscle tissue analogs to rapidly screen drugs in vitro for modified muscle strength, altered fatigue rates, and contraction-induced injury prevention. The company’s core technology (drug screening using three dimensional contractile skeletal muscle-based platforms) has been successfully implemented to provide compound screening services for pharmaceutical companies including Novartis Pharma AG and Pfizer, as well as numerous academic centers, and not-for-profit foundations. Several positive hits are currently in clinical trials. www.myomics.com