Genesis Drug Discovery & Development (GD3) has expanded its drug development services through the acquisition of a majority interest in NexusPharma.
The acquisition creates a fully-integrated portfolio of services for GD3 by integrating NexusPharma's unique collection of patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models, with GD3's existing platforms which include syngeneic/cell line derived xenograft models, radiotherapy, flow cytometry, and in-vivo imaging modalities. This acquisition does not affect the minority interest in NexusPharma held by Fox Chase Cancer Center (FCCC).
The NexusPharma technology suite offers pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies state-of-the-art, clinically relevant patient-derived cell-lines and animal models for the validation of investigational drug candidates for cancer treatment and biomarker identification. With direct access to primary patient-derived tumors, drug developers will have the most clinically predictive method for validating cancer drug candidates. The application of NexusPharma's primary patient-derived low passage tumors in concert with specialized PDX models, brings drug development to a new level. The collaboration with GD3 and the joint use and characterization of personalized tumor models will allow NexusPharma to profile new drug candidates more efficiently and broadly than was previously possible. This will also enable better prediction of the clinical activity of new molecules, and thus enhance translation of drug leads into clinical studies and personalized co-clinical trials.
"Acquisition of NexusPharma is an important step in creating a novel suite of services for personalized medicine, including models for acquired resistance to targeted therapies," said Dr. Eli Mordechai, CEO of GBG. In addition, NexusPharma's ongoing partnership with FCCC will allow us to develop a comprehensive portfolio of services by building PDX models for unmet needs.