Enlight Biosciences LLC has formed new alliances with AstraZeneca and Novo Nordisk. As partners in Enlight, AstraZeneca and Novo Nordisk will have the opportunity to collaborate and invest in the development of potentially transformational technologies with application to its therapeutic programmes.

According to the CEO of Enlight, Michelle Browner , " One of the keys to the success of Enlight is the rich dialogue between our network of scientific and clinical experts with our pharmaceutical partners. We will benefit greatly from the contributions of AstraZeneca and Novo Nordisk to this excellent group of leaders from industry and academia. "

"This partnership reflects the commitment of AstraZeneca to access and drive innovation that exists outside our own labs," said Menelas Pangalos, executive vice president of Innovative Medicines, AstraZeneca. "Enlight provides a unique opportunity for AstraZeneca and MedImmune, our biological arm, to collaborate with our counterparts and contribute to the development of tools that fundamentally improve the R&D in the industry."

"In Novo Nordisk, we apply our unique combination of skills in engineering and protein expression, formulation and delivery to improve the quality of care and bring new treatment options to patients," said Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen , executive vice president and director of security at Novo Nordisk. "Through our participation in Enlight, we actively support the advancement of innovative ideas as we address proactively the needs of our R&D organization of global expansion."

Enlight innovations emerging from academic laboratories, companies and ideas generated internally recently by the Enlight team, including a scientific advisory committee headed by Nobel laureate, Dr. H. Robert Horvitz . Enlight is focused in areas including molecular imaging methods, biology and drug formulation and delivery, as well as new chemical products and production technologies, biomarkers and drug safety. Hundreds of technological opportunities are evaluated each year and only one or two will be selected to become actively managed programs.

Since its founding in 2008, Enlight has publicly announced the formation of two companies: Delivery and Endra, and also has several companies that have not yet announced publicly. Delivery is developing a patented delivery technology to allow oral administration of proteins, peptides and small molecules difficult to provide. Endra has marketed a revolutionary preclinical imaging technology that combines the properties of the image (optical) light-based ultrasound to allow live animal image advanced preclinical research.