AstraZeneca PLC has signed a three-year commercial licensing agreement to use Xenogen Corporation 's proprietary suite of technologies for their drug discovery and development programs in oncology.

Xenogen's technology is used in oncology research to monitor cancerous cells that have been tagged with a light-emitting gene that allow real-time data to be captured using Xenogen's IVIS camera system. This real time, high quality in vivo data can expedite the drug discovery process by allowing evaluation of drug leads earlier in the development continuum.

"We are pleased to expand our relationship with AstraZeneca. We believe that our technology will be beneficial to AstraZeneca's oncology research programs," says Pamela R. Contag, Co-CEO and president of Xenogen Corporation. "This agreement is yet another step in the acceptance of our technology in the biopharmaceutical industry and in the continued growth of our company."

Xenogen Corporation is a leader in the field of real-time in vivo imaging, providing the pharmaceutical industry with proprietary technologies, products and services to enable real-time in vivo monitoring to identify drug leads for clinical development.