Asterand’s Subsidiary BioSeek Achieves A Research Milestone In Drug Discovery Collaboration With Ono

BioSeek, LLC, a subsidiary of Asterand plc (LSE: ATD), a pioneer in the application of predictive human biology to drug discovery, announced today that the first research milestone has been achieved in the multi-year drug discovery collaboration with Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., (“Ono”), where BioSeek is applying its proprietary BioMAP® platform to perform phenotypic screening, hit identification, lead optimization and clinical candidate selection on a target selected by Ono. Under the three-year agreement, BioSeek is receiving research funding and is eligible to receive success payments based on the research-phase progress of this collaboration and further milestone payments based on the clinical development-phase progress of a drug candidate discovered under this collaboration. Ono will have worldwide rights to develop and sell all pharmaceutical products discovered through the collaboration.

Jack Davis, Chairman and Interim Chief Executive Officer of Asterand commented:

“We highly value our relationship with Ono since it enables us to take full advantage of BioMAP®’s power to discover and develop innovative new drug candidates. We are looking forward to the successful continuation and further achievements of the collaboration.”

BioMAP® Systems are primary cell-based models of human disease biology, designed to replicate the intricate cell and pathway interactions as they are observed in human pharmacology and toxicology. Depending on their mechanism of action, compounds induce specific patterns of changes in these systems (BioMAP® profiles) that can be compared to a large number of reference profiles in the BioMAP® Database. Assessment with BioMAP® provides early insight into human pharmacological and toxicological properties of compounds, including on-and off-target effects, dose responses, and the discrimination of closely related compounds.

About Asterand

Asterand plc is a leading supplier of high quality human tissue and tissue-based services. Our comprehensive approach to human tissue and research services offers pharmaceutical, biotech and diagnostic companies the unique opportunity to have one company meet all of their human biomaterial needs along the continuum of drug discovery and development. Our mission is to accelerate target discovery and compound validation and enable pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to take safer and more effective drugs into the market. For more information about Asterand or BioSeek, go to www.asterand.com.

About Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is a R&D-oriented pharmaceutical company specialized in creating innovative medicines in specific areas and is headquartered in Osaka, Japan. For more information about Ono, visit the company’s website at www.ono.co.jp.