Contract research firm Crown Bioscience has made a deal with the National Resource Center for Mutant Mice (NRCMM), in Nanjing, China, to develop new experimental cancer models to advance treatments and translational medical research. The companies believe this deal will expand both firms' research capabilities in translational oncology. 

NRCMM is a research organization for which the genetically engineered mutant mouse (GEMM) is its specialty. The firm brings to the table a large collection of GEMMs, many of which, according to NRCMM, mimic human cancers. Crown is bringing its translational oncology platforms, which feature collections of xenograft models. The two companies believe their respective backgrounds in both oncology and GEMMs is complementary and will offer expanded new mouse cancer and leukemia models based on GEMM as well as new human xenografts. The novel mouse strains, the firms say, could be very useful for immune-oncology research and immunotherapy drug evaluations.

“The combined expertise of Crown in oncology and our GEMM can certainly offer great GEMM-based oncology platforms to our partners in China and around the world,” Xiang Gao, Ph.D., NRCMM's director, said in a statement. “We are certainly excited about this opportunity.”

This deal is likewise part of Crown's recent focus on expanding its global footprint. A little over a week ago, Crown announced a partnership with Japan-based CRO Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories (SNBL) to promote Crown's services to SNBL's Japanese client base.

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