Nanotechnology Now - Press Release: FEI Partners with Five Pharmaceutical Companies, the Medical Research Council and the University of Cambridge to form Cryo-EM Research Consortium

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Abstract:
Organizations involved in the Cambridge Pharmaceutical Cryo-EM Research Consortium will share access to cryo-electron microscopy equipment and methods and will collaborate on developing the technology to benefit pharmaceutical drug discovery research.

FEI Partners with Five Pharmaceutical Companies, the Medical Research Council and the University of Cambridge to form Cryo-EM Research Consortium

Hillsboro, OR and London, UK | Posted on April 5th, 2016

FEI (NASDAQ: FEIC) has partnered with five pharmaceutical companies: Astex Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Heptares Therapeutics, and UCB; the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (MRC-LMB); and the University of Cambridge’s Nanoscience Centre, to form the “Cambridge Pharmaceutical Cryo-EM Consortium,” which is the first of its kind worldwide. As part of the three-year agreement, FEI will provide sample preparation and data collection services on a Titan Krios™ cryo-transmission electron microscope (cryo-EM) to the consortium companies for early-stage drug discovery research.

The five companies involved in the consortium will share access to the microscope with colleagues from the MRC-LMB and the University of Cambridge in return for expert guidance on the use of cryo-EM technology. FEI’s Titan Krios will be installed at the Nanoscience Centre in May.

Richard Henderson, pioneer in the field of cryo-EM at MRC-LMB, states, "It is delightful to know that the development of cryo-EM, which many people have worked on for many years, has now reached mainstream structural biology. It is particularly satisfying that pharmaceutical companies are keen to evaluate the approach for drug development."

Prof. Sir Mark Welland, director of the Nanoscience Centre, said, “This is a great opportunity for researchers across the University to access a state-of-the-art microscope.”
Cryo-EM has quickly become one of the most important techniques used by structural biologists today to obtain molecular-scale three-dimensional (3D) information about protein structures. When combined with traditional methods for structure determination, such as x-ray crystallography and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the resulting models can reveal the structure of complex, dynamic molecular assemblies down to the scale of individual atoms. The consortium’s Titan Krios will use the Relion software package, developed by Sjors Scheres at MRC-LMB, to process the image data into a visual 3D model that helps researchers see and understand the structure and function of the protein.

“Cryo-EM 3D models allow us to see and understand the workings of protein-based molecular machines that we could not analyze before because they were too large and complex or were resistant to the preparations required for other techniques,” states Peter Fruhstorfer, vice president and general manager of the Life Sciences business, FEI. “The technique was rapidly adopted by leading academic researchers and is now finding its way into early stage discovery and development in the pharmaceutical industry.”

Fruhstorfer adds, “In addition to installing the Titan Krios cryo-EM system, our contribution to the consortium includes providing an application scientist that will work with the participating companies to ensure a smooth workflow throughout, from sample preparation to data collection and data processing, with a special focus on creating a standardized and robust single-particle analysis workflow.”

For more information about cryo-EM and the Cambridge Pharmaceutical Cryo-EM Consortium, contact FEI at contactus@fei.com.

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About FEI Company
FEI Company (Nasdaq: FEIC) designs, manufactures and supports a broad range of high-performance microscopy workflow solutions that provide images and answers at the micro-, nano- and picometer scales. Its innovation and leadership enable customers in industry and science to increase productivity and make breakthrough discoveries. Headquartered in Hillsboro, Ore., USA, FEI has over 2,800 employees and sales and service operations in more than 50 countries around the world. More information can be found at: www.fei.com.

About the Cambridge University Nanoscience Centre

The Nanoscience Centre provides open access to over 300 researchers from a variety of University Departments to the nanofabrication and characterisation facilities housed in a combination of Clean Rooms and low noise laboratories. The main activity in the building is making individual devices or structures which are only a few nanometres in size and then measuring how they work. Office space is primarily home to the Department of Engineering's Nanoscience Group, technical and administrative staff and members of other research groups who require long term access to facilities. www.nanoscience.cam.ac.uk

FEI Safe Harbor Statement

This news release contains forward-looking statements that include statements regarding the performance capabilities and benefits of the Titan Krios TEM and cryo-EM solution. Factors that could affect these forward-looking statements include but are not limited to our ability to manufacture, ship, deliver and install the tools, solutions or software as expected; failure of the product or technology to perform as expected; unexpected technology problems and challenges; changes to the technology; the inability of FEI, its suppliers or project partners to make the technological advances required for the technology to achieve anticipated results; and the inability of the customer to deploy the tools or develop and deploy the expected new applications. Please also refer to our Form 10-K, Forms 10-Q, Forms 8-K and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for additional information on these factors and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. FEI assumes no duty to update forward-looking statements.

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