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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July
11, 2007.
NCE
Discovery and Domainex merge to create a new drug discovery company.
On
1 March 2007, Domainex Ltd and NCE Discovery Ltd merged to form
a new drug discovery company focused on nucleotide triphosphate
(NTP)-dependent proteins. The parent company will be known as Domainex,
and it will offer access to its technology platform on a 'fee for
service' basis through its service division, which will trade as
NCE Discovery.
The
new company combines NCED’s expertise in medicinal chemistry with
Domainex’s innovative Combinatorial Domain Hunting (CDH) technique
for producing recombinant proteins, forming a well-rounded platform
for novel drug discovery. Domainex will apply this powerful combination
of structural biology and medicinal chemistry approaches to the
development of small-molecule drugs with activity against key NTP-dependent
protein targets.
Both
NCE Discovery and Domainex are spinout companies from University
College London (UCL) which, via UCL Cruciform Ltd, is a major shareholder
of NCE Discovery and holds shares directly in Domainex. Domainex
is also a spinout of the Institute of Cancer Research and Birkbeck
College London. UCL Business plc (UCLB), a wholly owned subsidiary
of UCL, has also become an investor in the new merged company.
“We
are delighted to launch a drug-focused platform technology company
with novel approaches to both biology and chemistry,” said Dr Keith
Powell, CEO of Domainex. Alan Stuttle, an assistant director of
UCLB, commented: “Working alongside the Bloomsbury BioSeed Fund,
UCLB sees this resultant merger as an opportunity to invest in the
strong combination that these two companies have now become, potentially
delivering a much greater presence in the marketplace.”
For
more information, contact Chris Sharman at
NCE Discovery Ltd., 418 Cambridge Science Park,
Milton Road, Cambridge.
CB4 0PA
Tel: +44 (0)1993 201801 Fax: +44 (0)1993 200401
Email: c.sharman@ncediscovery.com
www.ncediscovery.com
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