MARTINSRIED, Germany—ChromoTek GmbH has announced the signing of a licenseagreement granting Bayer Pharma AG the right to use ChromoTek's proprietaryCell Cycle Chromobody technology for drug profiling by high-content analysis.
Under the terms of the agreement, Bayer will applyChromobody technology for real-time monitoring of cell cycle progression indrug discovery. This agreement follows a collaboration in which ChromoTekprovided custom cell line development for Bayer.
Financial terms of the agreement were notdisclosed.
ChromoTek's Chromobody technology is a patented,universal live-cell imaging technology for high-content analysis. The so-calledChromobodies are single-domain antibodies that have been genetically fused tofluorescent proteins to serve as functional nanoprobes in living cells. Accordingto ChromoTek, the Chromobody technology allows users "for the first time totrace endogenous intracellular antigens and to visualize dynamic changes ofthese targets within living cells."
Currently available Chromobodies trace importantcellular processes like cell cycle, apoptosis, DNA damage and repair, or even allowcytoskeletal analysis. The Cell Cycle Chromobody cell line that has been licensedby Bayer traces the complete cell cycle in real-time in live cells "in anon-invasive manner while providing full flexibility to multiplex with otherprocedures," ChromoTek indicates, with ChromoTek's head of R&D, Dr. KouroshZolghadr, adding, "We are pleased to offer our customers efficient tools forachieving more detailed and physiologically relevant information on the effectsof drug candidates on cell cycle progression."
Established in 2008 as a spin-off from Munich'sLudwig Maximilian University and located in Martinsried, which is Germany'sleading biotech hubr, ChromoTek develops and markets Chromobody-based live-cellassays for drug screening and target validation. Other products includeimmunological and bioimaging reagents, such as the GFP-Trap for the rapidpull-down of GFP fusion proteins, GFP and RFP Booster to amplify fluorescencesignals of GFP or RFP fusion proteins. ChromoTek's newly developedfluorescence-based protein-protein interaction assay calledFluorescent-2-Hybrid (F2H) is available as a development service.
