Behind every patient stands thousands of scientists and
researchers collaborating to develop life-saving drugs. Jenne’s story
highlights the importance of that work.
WILMINGTON, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%24CRL&src=ctag" target="_blank"gt;$CRLlt;/agt; lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LIFEatCRL?src=hash" target="_blank"gt;#LIFEatCRLlt;/agt;–Charles River Laboratories International, Inc. (NYSE: CRL) and CHDI
Foundation today announced a five-year extension of their ongoing
collaboration. The organizations began working together in 2005 on drug
discovery and development for Huntington’s
disease (HD), a genetic neurological disease that causes the
progressive dysfunction of nerve cells in the brain. The extension will
allow more flexible activity across the different Charles River
platforms and entail greater integration into CHDI’s programs.
The contract extension covers multidisciplinary services from across
Charles River’s portfolio, including:
- Integrated biology and chemistry capabilities
- Complex primary neuronal assay development
- High-content and fragment-based screening
- Computational chemistry
-
Absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) and
pharmacokinetics (PK) - Protein crystallography
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Extensive in vivo pharmacology approaches in research models
for translational assessment
Longstanding Collaboration
Over their 14-year collaboration, Charles River has established and
validated tools and methodologies within expert teams to support CHDI’s
mission of developing novel therapeutics that will substantially improve
the lives of those affected by HD.
Together, Charles River and CHDI have identified novel potential drug
targets, bred and validated translational research animal models, run
large screens and generated proof-of-concept molecules, and evaluated
the potential efficacy of both small molecule and biologic candidates in
preclinical models of HD. These cutting-edge approaches have resulted in
over one hundred co-authored posters and dozens of peer-reviewed papers.
Additionally, the expertise developed throughout this partnership has
helped more broadly facilitate increased HD research within the larger
drug discovery and development community.
Approved Quotes
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“Our longstanding partnership with CHDI is built on our mutual
commitment to developing novel therapies for Huntington’s disease. As
an organization, our work with CHDI has led to a much larger
commitment to support the HD research community, through investments
in methodologies, tools and personnel dedicated to this rare disease.”
– Birgit Girshick, Corporate Executive Vice President, Discovery &
Safety Assessment, Biologics Testing Solutions, and Avian Vaccine
Services at Charles River -
“Charles River’s early drug discovery team has continuously delivered
scientific expertise that enables our drug discovery research to
produce more efficient results. We are excited to continue our
research and work toward delivering a meaningful treatment to
patients.” –Robi Blumenstein, President, CHDI Management, Inc. -
“We are continuously inspired by CHDI’s open approach to sharing
knowledge and transferring expertise. Our researchers take their work
very personally—they are acutely aware of its potential impact—and
focus on honing their skills and learning new techniques to help
progress HD research forward.” –Outi Kontkanen, Senior Director of
Alliance Management at Charles River
About CHDI Foundation, Inc.
CHDI Foundation, Inc. is a privately-funded nonprofit biomedical
research organization that is exclusively dedicated to collaboratively
developing therapeutics that substantially improve the lives of those
affected by Huntington’s disease. As a collaborative enabler CHDI seeks
to bring the right partners together to identify and address critical
scientific issues and move drug candidates to clinical evaluation as
quickly as possible. Our scientists work closely with a network of more
than 700 researchers in academic and industrial laboratories around the
world in the pursuit of these novel therapies, providing strategic
scientific direction to ensure that our common goals remain in focus.
More information about CHDI can be found at www.chdifoundation.org.
About Charles River
Charles River provides essential products and services to help
pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, government agencies and
leading academic institutions around the globe accelerate their research
and drug development efforts. Our dedicated employees are focused on
providing clients with exactly what they need to improve and expedite
the discovery, early-stage development and safe manufacture of new
therapies for the patients who need them. To learn more about our unique
portfolio and breadth of services, visit www.criver.com.
Contacts
Investor Contact:
Charles River
Todd
Spencer
Corporate Vice President, Investor Relations
781-222-6455
todd.spencer@crl.com
Media
Contacts:
Charles River
Amy
Cianciaruso
Corporate Vice President, Public Relations
781-222-6168
amy.cianciaruso@crl.com