CYTOO and Pfizer join forces for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy target discovery platform

Preclinical stage drug discovery company, CYTOO, and biopharmaceutical company, Pfizer, have announced a research collaboration with the aim of developing a target discovery platform for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD).

Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will work together to modify CYTOO’s existing MyoScreen platform so that it may be used as a DMD target discovery platform. The goal is to establish a robust in vitro system that may be used for a high throughput target identification screen. If successful, Pfizer will have an option to acquire a licence for the use of the resulting platform for DMD target identification efforts.

DMD is a rare and life-threatening genetic disorder caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene, resulting in progressive muscle degeneration and weakness.

The MyoScreen is an in vitro system in which skeletal muscle cells mimic the morphology, contractile and metabolic functions of human muscle in vivo and therefore allows analyses of the molecular mechanisms involved in such functions in health and disease.

“Although the genetic cause of DMD has been known for years, little is known about the molecular functions that are affected in DMD muscles,” stated Dr John Murphy, vice president, Biology, Pfizer’s Rare Disease Research Unit. “Pfizer is committed to early stage DMD research and target identification.”

“Muscle dystrophies affect children severely, and we still don’t know what happens in muscle,” added Luc Selig, CYTOO’s CEO. “This is why we developed MyoScreen: to have a laboratory model of patient-derived muscle, to study and modulate muscle functions and to identify drug candidates that are specific to muscle function. Teaming with Pfizer on DMD means they have shown a great dedication to this project, and we are extremely motivated to succeed.”