Herophilus: Transaction with Genentech for Next-Generation Drug Discovery

 Herophilus, a leading biotechnology company with the mission to discover neurotherapeutics to cure complex brain diseases, today announced that Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, has acquired its proprietary high-throughput human organoid-based drug discovery platform comprising the Orchard™, Orchestra™, and OrCA™ technologies. Herophilus will continue to advance its own ongoing neurotherapeutic research programs.

“Since our founding in 2017, Herophilus’s vision has been to leverage the parallel revolutions in human complex in vitro brain models, scaled laboratory automation, and scientific machine learning to break the decades-long logjam in neuroscientific drug discovery. We are thrilled that Genentech will combine Herophilus’ platform with its exceptional drug development ability and experience to accelerate this vision,” said Saul Kato, CEO and Co-founder of Herophilus.

This transaction provides the Genentech and Roche R&D units with these three components of Herophilus’ discovery platform:

• Orchestra: Comprehensive hybrid-cloud enterprise-scale software system for instrument and automation control, experiment tracking, provenant data and metadata management, high-performance microscopy imaging and video data visualization and exploration, data annotation and rapid machine learning pipeline development
• OrCA: Modular Organoid Culture and Assay scaled experimental system, comprising five function-specific workcells and a library of optimized biology protocols for low-variability, tuned organoid culture and high-content, high-throughput phenotypic assays
• Orchard: Protocol library for high-quality reprogramming and genetic engineering of organoid-optimized stem cell lines and access to a diversified neurological disease patient stem cell biobank

https://www.biospace.com/article/releases/herophilus-announces-strategic-transaction-with-genentech-for-next-generation-drug-discovery-platform/