InvitroCue, the Australian company that works on advanced bio-analytics, has announced a key initiative on Malaria to identify and evaluate new drug targets to tropical infectious diseases.

Following its successful initiative on leishmaniasis, InvitroCue intends to establish an open and collaborative strategy that involves integrated partnerships and networks between academic infectious diseases institutes and pharmaceutical companies.

InvitroCue has signed a research collaboration with Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases Pte Ltd to investigate the lifecycle of Plasmodium cynomolgi (monkey malaria) using in vitro hepatocyte culture systems.

In the recent years, drug resistance against the blood stage of malaria has been increasing. Many institutions have been targeting the asymptomatic liver stage of the malaria parasite. An in vitro liver model is crucial to these research efforts. Dr Steven Fang, Executive Director of InvitroCue said, "The launch of our Malaria's initiative is important for our clients and the global market. We will work in tandem with academia and companies to develop novel in vitro tools for drug discovery."

To-date, InvitroCue has built up a complete suite of in vitro models and assays while guiding the pharmaceutical companies and research institutions through their drug discovery and development programs. The company also provides contract drug discovery services, including lead optimization in preclinical drug discovery, compound profiling, high-throughput screening, DMPK toxicology studies, is firmly grounded in the art of in vitro assaying and bio-analytics to predict the safety and efficacy of experimental drug targets and compounds.

InvitroCue focuses on the commercialization of its analytics services using cell-based model and imaging based technology. Its cell-based services enable pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies to refine their drug, ingredient, compound or vaccine discovery efforts. Its digital pathology business offers a solution, including slide scanning and digitization; image analytics of tissues and cells samples; pathology consultation with board certified pathologists, and telepathology via online Web-based portal. It provides products and services in the field of in-vitro drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic (DMPK), in-vitro toxicology and digital pathology utilizing cell-based models and analytics. It offers image analytics services for the liver disease application.

InvitroCue's technology, was spun out of Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) has been developed and validated in collaborations with leading pharmaceutical companies and scientific collaborators.