PerkinElmer, Sangmyung Partner

PerkinElmer of Waltham, Mass., has entered into a drug discovery research collaboration with Sangmyung University in the Republic of Korea, based on applying the American company’s AequoScreen aequorin assay technology to G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) research. It is estimated that GPCRs are associated with at least 30 percent of addressable diseases and continue to be a key focus in drug discovery. Aequorin assays are a cell-based assay technology used to detect GPCR activation. Their advantages over conventional fluorescence-based dyes include fewer false positives, simpler protocol and increased assay windows. AequoScreen will be used by the university as part of its efforts to establish an academic GPCR screening facility in conjunction with the Korea Chemical Bank, a national repository library of more than 100,000 small-molecule compounds. The aequorin technology will be used as part of nationwide GPCR screening campaigns and drug discovery programs in South Korea.