Agreement Provides for Co-Promotion, Marketing and Sales of Services Utilizing Hepregen's Proprietary HepatoPacTM Products for Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetic Applications
Newark, DE and Medford, MA. May 30, 2013 - QPS Holdings, LLC, a US-headquartered contract research organization ("CRO"), and Hepregen Corporation, developer of HepatoPacTM and HepatoMuneTM "liver-in-a-dish" products, announced today the execution of an agreement between the companies that provides QPS a license to offer drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic ("DMPK") services to its clients using Hepregen's unique, paradigm-shifting products. The agreement provides for offerings in both North America and Europe. The agreement also creates a marketing and sales partnership between the companies, providing for co-promotion of the HepatoPacTM-associated DMPK services. This arrangement is the first such partnership in the field for both companies.
QPS expects to begin offering metabolite identification, profiling, and clearance studies to North American customers before the end of June, and to European customers in the third calendar quarter of this year using HepatoPacTM products. The North American services will be offered from its well established DMPK department in Newark, Delaware, and its newly established DMPK Hepatic Biosciences division based at the Hamner Institutes in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, using rat, dog, monkey and human HepatoPacTM products.
"Our ability to offer services utilizing Hepregen's next-generation product portfolio is another demonstration of the QPS commitment to enhancing its leadership position in the ADME field, providing cutting-edge, liver-based in vitro services to the pharmaceutical and agrochemical industry," stated Dr. Zamas Lam, QPS Senior Vice President of Preclinical Development.
"QPS brings an extraordinary capability and expertise in bioanalytical technology and hepatic cell biology to our partnership and a strong commitment to a progressive vision in the growing field of hepatic sciences," stated Dr. Vincent Zurawski, Hepregen's Chief Executive. "Moreover, QPS is an exceptionally well-managed company, as demonstrated by its outstanding record of growth in the last five years. We are extremely pleased to be engaged with such a strong partner in this paradigm-shifting endeavor," added Dr. Zurawski.
About QPS Holdings, LLC
Founded in 1995, QPS is a GLP/GCP-compliant contract research organization (CRO) supporting discovery, preclinical, and clinical drug development, providing quality services to pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients worldwide. QPS linearly integrated core competencies include: neuropharmacology, DMPK, liver research, toxicology, bioanalysis, translational medicine, and early and late phase clinical research program management. QPS regional laboratories and testing facilities are located at company headquarters in Newark, DE; Springfield, MO; Research Triangle Park, NC; Hollywood, FL; South Miami, FL, USA; Groningen, The Netherlands; Graz, Austria; Södertälje, Sweden; Hyderabad, India; and Taipei, Taiwan. For more information, visit http://www.qps.com
About Hepregen Corporation
Hepregen Corporation is the undisputed leader in innovating unique and proprietary bioengineered micro-liver platforms for use in environmental testing, preventive care, and pharmaceutical, biotherapeutic and diagnostic product development. The Company's "liver-in-a-dish" HepatoPacTM and HepatoMuneTM products support a potential paradigm shift in drug development. The utility of Hepregen's human, rat, monkey and dog HepatoPacTM and HepatoMuneTM products has been validated in collaboration with investigators at several well-known pharmaceutical companies. Additionally, new applications for these products are being tested by Hepregen, its pharmaceutical company customers, and its academic and business partners. Hepregen was founded and capitalized by Battelle Venture Partners with technology licensed from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The technology was developed by Professor Sangeeta Bhatia, who is a world renowned expert and leader in liver bioengineering for life science and therapeutic applications. She currently chairs the Company's scientific advisory board. For more information, visit http://www.hepregen.com.