Epistem in fibrosis research deal with GlaxoSmithKline

UK biotech and personalized medicines company Epistem (LSE:EHP) has entered into a three year biomarker collaboration with pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) in the field of fibrosis research.

The collaboration will focus on identifying key characteristics of diseased fibrotic tissue on which Epistem will apply its proprietary RNA-Amp technology to facilitate building an in depth understanding of the disease. Financial terms of the accord were not disclosed.

RNA-AmpTM is highly sensitive amplification technology which is able to provide gene expression information from small-tissue samples and low of numbers of cells, eg, those obtained from the bulb of cells at the base of a single hair follicle, as well as laser captured microdissected (LCM) samples. Epistem says it is now the preferred partner of choice for a range of pharmaceutical companies providing gene expression biomarker information to support drug development programs.