Seventh Wave announces collaboration with Yecuris to study new liver disease therapies

Seventh Wave Laboratories, a consulting-based contract research organization that assesses the safety and efficacy of pharmaceutical products and medical devices, has announced an exclusive collaboration with Yecuris Corporation, a global leader in the development and use of humanized models in drug development research. The partnership enables the most predictive approach available to study new human liver disease therapies.

Seventh Wave will now be the exclusive provider of services related to hepatitis B virus and C virus pharmacology studies using the Yecuris liver humanized FRG KO model. Seventh Wave also will offer toxicology, metabolism and other pharmacology services using Yecuris models. Yecuris' models are highly repopulated with human liver cells, making them an ideal candidate for efficacy studies of human liver pathogens.

"Hundreds of millions of people are infected with hepatitis, and nearly one million die each year; there is a real need for a better way to evaluate new therapies," said John Sagartz, PhD, DVM, president, CEO and founder of Seventh Wave Laboratories. "Yecuris' models are top-tier humanized models for specific pharmacology evaluations that will allow us to study new human liver disease therapies. We are excited about the possibilities."

The two companies have been validating viremic and gene expression models for more than a year. "This agreement allows Seventh Wave access to our technology, and provides our clients access to a lab where they can have high-quality studies performed using our models," said John Bial, CEO of Yecuris Corporation.

Both Sagartz and Bial are confident this partnership will help researchers garner specialty data and expedite compound testing, ultimately benefiting people suffering from liver disease.