Asterand Bioscience and MolecularMD announce a partnership to accelerate targeted therapeutic biomarker validation, optimization, development and commercialization

PORTLAND, OR and CAMBRIDGE, MA and DETROIT, MI--(Marketwired - February 15, 2017) - Asterand Bioscience, the leader in high quality, well-characterized human tissue and human tissue-based research solutions supporting drug discovery and development, announced today a partnership with MolecularMD to combine MolecularMD's expertise as a provider of molecular diagnostics products and services with Asterand Bio's drug target and candidate validation capabilities. MolecularMD is a molecular diagnostics company that develops custom clinical trial assays as well as companion diagnostic products, supporting clinical trial services and commercialization of targeted cancer therapies. The partnership creates an end-to-end workflow for biopharma clients and strengthens the companies' current offerings in assay development & validation, while creating a global footprint for the efficient delivery of clinical trial sample analyses.

"For over 20 years, Asterand Bioscience's experienced scientists have worked collaboratively with clients to expedite the highest likelihood for clinical success by providing a variety of pre-clinical research services," said John Canepa, Chief Financial Officer/Chief Operations Officer. "This agreement brings together MolecularMD's proven track record in clinical assay development and companion diagnostics with Asterand Bio's human tissue procurement, characterization and research services to provide a comprehensive approach to meet the needs of pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostic companies from validation of biomarkers and targets to assay development, through regulatory and clinical trials."

"MolecularMD is uniquely suited to assist biopharma clients with our clinical trial and regulatory expertise," said Dan Snyder, President/Chief Executive Officer, MolecularMD. "I'm excited that Asterand Bio and MolecularMD have joined forces to provide these unique advantages which will help our broad client base accelerate their pipeline decisions and dramatically improve the efficiency of the clinical trial and commercialization workflow."

Asterand Bio and MolecularMD will both attend Molecular Med Tri-Con 2017, Feb 19-24 at the Moscone North Convention Center, San Francisco, CA, a meeting bringing together over 3,500 drug discovery and development professionals. More information about the partnership can be found at Asterand Bio's booth #626. Asterand Bio and MolecularMD will both attend the AACR 2017 meeting, April 1-5 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington DC, a meeting that highlights the highest level of cancer science and medicine from institutions all over the world. More information about the partnership can be found at Asterand Bio's booth #1340 and MolecularMD's booth #3423.

About Asterand Bioscience
Asterand Bioscience is the leading global provider of high quality, well-characterized human tissue and human tissue-based research solutions to drug discovery scientists. Our mission is to provide human-based solutions to accelerate the identification and validation of drug targets and enhance the selection of drug candidates with increased likelihood of clinical success. From our offices in Detroit, MI and Royston, U.K. our employees are focused on providing services and products to accelerate drug discovery research from target identification through to compound evaluation and drug safety.

About MolecularMD
MolecularMD Corporation develops and commercializes specialty molecular diagnostics for oncology applications. Tests are designed to allow appropriate selection, monitoring and management of patients treated with molecularly-targeted cancer therapies. MolecularMD integrates gold-standard and innovative platform technologies with clinical assay design, validation and centralized testing to accelerate all phases of clinical development, including FDA approval and commercialization of in vitro companion diagnostic tests for novel anticancer agents.