Xceleron makes break through commercial deal for microdosing

Collaboration deal

The York University spin-out Xceleron Ltd has agreed a cross-over deal with the US contract research organisation Covance, in which the two will make their services available to each other’s customers. In addition, Xceleron and Covance will carry out joint projects on behalf of sponsors and to further the development of new applications.

Xceleron is pioneering the use of so-called Phase 0 clinical studies in which a microdose of a radiolabelled drug is administered to human volunteers and the route by which it is metabolised, absorbed and excreted is followed by an accelerator mass spectrometer.

This can be used to reduce the amount of preclinical animal toxicology tests, and also to reduce the attrition rate of drugs in formal Phase I trials, in which a therapeutic dose is administered.

Colin Garner, CEO of Xceleron said, “This is a strategically important deal for Xceleron. It demonstrates how quickly our technology has moved from being seen as novel and at the edges of drug development, to its acceptance as a mainstream part of the drug development process.”

“Covance is a great partner to have and this agreement will add global marketing power to our business: we look forward to working closely with them.”