NEW YORK, Aug 16 – Canadian life science company MDS has agreed to develop and commercialize Signature BioScience's microwave spectroscopy instrumentation, the companies announced.
MDS will pay Signature Biosciences $10 million upfront and will provide additional milestone and royalty payments in exchange for exclusive license rights to commercialize the microwave spectroscopy instrumentation and peripherals.
"Not only does it [the collaboration] represent a great opportunity for us to leverage our capabilities in the analytical instrument field, but it will enhance our understanding of protein function in the area of proteomics and ultimately will allow us to expand our information and service capabilities to the drug discovery market," John Rogers, CEO of MDS, said in a statement released Wednesday.
The companies said that they had already outlined the product development plans, noting that the new instruments would be based on Signature's WaveSpec technology and would be part of MDS Sciex’s family of products. MDS Sciex is a subsidiary of MDS of Toronto.
WaveScreen is based on the company’s multipole coupling spectroscopy technology, which uses microwave and radio frequencies to determine protein and cell structure. The technology does not use tags or makers and is designed to help determine protein function and interactions.
In addition to commercializing the WaveSpec technology, Signature BioScience also plans to use it in house to discover lead compounds for pharma and biotech partners. The company currently has deals with Bristol Myers Squibb and Millennium Pharmaceuticals as well as two undisclosed companies.