AstraZeneca Teams Up With MRC Technology In Drug Search

5th Jul 2010 09:44

LONDON (Dow Jones)--U.K. drug maker AstraZeneca PLC (AZN.LN) said Monday it teamed up with the commercial arm of the U.K.'s Medical Research Council to scour a library of about 150,000 compounds for possible drug applications. AstraZeneca said the collaboration will search for compounds that show activity against biological targets associated with heart disease, cancer, neuroscience and infection. The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical firm is pooling 100,000 of its compounds with 50,000 from MRC Technology, the council's commercialization company. MRC Technology will carry out the screening. The two firms will retain ownership of their respective compounds but intend to negotiate research and license agreements if they identify candidates for further development, AstraZeneca said. Late June, AstraZeneca said it gave researchers access to 500,000 compounds in its library in a drive to find new drugs for malaria. -By Jason Douglas, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9272; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 05, 2010 04:44 ET (08:44 GMT)