Nature Biotechnology
19, 5 (2001)
doi:10.1038/83526
OGS/Glaxo biomarker dealLiz FletcherProteomics company Oxford GlycoSciences (Oxford, UK) has signed a deal with Glaxo Wellcome (Greenford, UK) to identify biomarkers—proteins whose expression change during illness. Biomarkers can be used not only to detect and monitor a disease, but also to improve the design and assessment of clinical trials, thus speeding the clinical development process. But OGS has struggled to sell the concept to industry, signing up only Pfizer (New York) and Bayer (Leverkusen, Germany) in similar disease-based studies over the past two years. The deal with Glaxo, says OGS's business development manager Robert Burns, is a sign that the drug industry has woken up to the potential impact of proteomics on clinical development. The collaboration should fuel both Glaxo and OGS's clinical development efforts, helping to fill OGS's currently sparse product pipeline and consolidate its intentions to become a drug developer. In the longer term, OGS foresees using biomarkers as the building blocks for new types of diagnostics, a market which, says Burns, is currently undeveloped and undervalued.
On December 7, OGS sold 13.4 million shares at $18.36 in an IPO on Nasdaq, trading up at $20.00 the following day.
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