ANN ARBOR, Mich., Oct. 31, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- MIR Preclinical Services (MIR) announced that it is offering licenses for a transgenic mouse that was recently reported in Nature Medicine (10, 1257-1260, 2004). This model was developed by Dr. Eric Holland at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and is exclusively available from MIR.
Known as the "Ef-luc" mouse, it expresses luciferase in all proliferating tissues permitting emission of light. This light can be detected to yield the location and a real-time index of proliferation for actively dividing cells. The Ef-luc can be crossed with other transgenics to yield valuable models for drug and medical device discovery in a variety of therapeutic areas (e.g. cancer, wound healing and toxicology). Licenses are available for use in oncology and can be negotiated for other therapeutic areas. MIR also offers the Ef-luc mouse for use in studies on a fee-for-service basis.
MIR Vice President, Dr. William Elliott, expects this technology to play a key role in elucidation of disease processes and preclinical development of therapeutics. "The Ef-luc mouse allows a sensitive and high-throughput readout for cellular proliferation," Dr. Elliott stated. "The first demonstration of this mouse's utility in cancer research has been published in leading journals and MIR is pleased to provide opportunities for continued work in other disease areas," he continued.
Inquiries about this technology can be directed to Mr. Frank Urban (see contact details below).
About MIR Preclinical Services
MIR is a contract research organization specializing in the application of state of the art imaging technologies to the preclinical evaluation of novel drug candidates. The company boasts management with over 60 years of major pharma cancer drug discovery experience, and is a leader in the integration of traditional anti-cancer efficacy testing with clinically relevant imaging technologies to provide new insights to drug discovery and development. MIR offers a wide array of tumor models including human tumor xenograft, syngeneic, and transgenic models. The company is unique in its ability to apply non-invasive in vivo imaging modalities including preclinical MRI, X-ray micro-CT, high resolution preclinical PET, and bioluminescence and fluorescence imaging to visualize biological processes such as signal transduction, apoptosis and angiogenesis, and tumor growth. MIR actively collaborates with leading scientists in academia in developing new drug evaluation technologies with a view to publication of results in peer reviewed journals.