The contract research organisation (CRO) has been selected by companies Antabio, Pcovery and the British Columbia Cancer Agency to provide drug discovery services through its Global Discovery Services business.
All three drug discovery companies are funded by the Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation focused on health. According to a Charles River spokesperson the contracts are expected to be accommodated through current capacity available at the CRO.
The first deal has been penned with anti- bacterial focused firm Antabio. The project intends to develop a new drug for infections in cystic fibrosis patients, and Charles River will provide project management, chemistry/computer-aided drug design (CADD), and medicinal and synthetic chemistry services.
Charles River has already been working with Antabio, and will continue developing candidates that inhibit antibiotic resistance for the firm.
Anti-fungal discovery biotech Pcovery, meanwhile, has extended its contract with the CRO, looking at potential treatments to destroy otherwise drug-resistant fungi.
The contract with the British Columbia Cancer Agency, meanwhile, will see Charles River provide CADD services, as well as biochemical and cell assays, and in vitro and in vivo DMPK studies in order to improve radiotherapy treatments for cancer.
“We are delighted Antabio, Pcovery, and the British Columbia Cancer Agency selected Charles River as their partner for the Wellcome Trust’s Seeding Drug Discovery (SDD) funded programs,” said Emily Hickey, SVP at the CRO’s Global Discovery Services business.
“We look forward to supporting these organizations in their goal to identify new therapies to treat—and hopefully cure — diseases.”