BioFocus will offer its customers Activiomics’ proteomics technology for identifying targets for drug discovery and biomarkers for diagnostics, under an strategic alliance announced today.
Activiomics’ TIQUAS (Targeted In-depth QUAntification of cell Signaling) phosphoproteomics core technology uses mass spectroscopy-based techniques to detect and quantify thousands of phosphorylation sites from a cell/tissue extract, providing clues on proteins or pathway activation following a cell-signaling event. Those clues are analyzed using bioinformatics tools.
TIQUAS uses a protease to break down a cell or tissue extract into peptide fragments that can be quantified using phosphopeptide enrichment, mass spectrometry, and TIQUAS software. According to Activiomics, TIQUAS quantifies global kinase activity without the need for labeling or antibody isolation.
London-based Activiomics is a privately owned spin-out company from the Barts Cancer Institute that has attracted among partners biopharma giants that include Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, and UCB. BioFocus provides drug discovery services aimed at delivering pre-clinical drug candidates in all therapeutic areas, with a focus on neurodegenerative diseases, inflammatory diseases, and rare and neglected diseases.