ChanTest buys GPCR specialist

ChanTest’s expertise is in ion channels, and adding ACS’ GPCR capabilities means that the combined company now offer services, cell lines and reagents that “cover nearly half of the known druggable genome.​”

"We are now uniquely positioned to serve the drug discovery and safety needs of pharmaceutical and biotech customers​,” said Arthur “Buzz” Brown, ChanTest’s president and chief executive.

Because of the diversity of their functions, GPCRs are an important drug target class that comprise more than 40 per cent of drug screening programs and are targets for more than 50 per cent of today's commercially available pharmaceuticals. GPCR-based drugs make up 12 of the 20 top selling drugs and account for nearly $200bn in annual sales.

However, despite their obvious success as targets, GPCR drug discovery has remained a relatively inefficient process, typically relying on high-throughput screening of large diverse libraries.

Ion channels and GPCRs are natural partners, according to ChanTest, and are critical and often-interrelated components of cell signalling. Ion channels and ion channel-GPCR combinations are well established as safety and discovery targets, but until now access via HTS has not been available, said Brown.

The combined company will maintain the two firms’ existing facilities in Rockville and Cleveland.

Dr. Jesse Baumgold, who has led ACS since its inception in 2004, will take the post of vice president of business development and product strategy at ChanTest.

By joining forces, ChanTest and ACS can provide “a more-complete assessment of a compound's promise in discovery testing - or a drug's safety profile during preclinical development​,” said Baumgold.

Terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed.