Cenix BioScience, a contract research organisation based in Dresden, Germany and specialising in drug discovery based on RNA interference (RNAi) and micro-RNA (miRNA) screening, is beefing up its research and development operations by opening a new subsidiary in Flanders, Belgium.
The subsidiary, Cenix BioScience BVBA, will be wholly owned by its German parent and will help to accelerate development of the company’s capabilities in key growth areas including drug discovery for central nervous system diseases and in vivo RNAi, Cenix said. New staff will be hired to support these efforts.
Through these programmes, Cenix is working to improve the in vivo applicability of small interfering RNA (siRNA) technology by testing novel delivery solutions, including its proprietary DARE technology, the company noted.
The broader remit is “part of a major growth and diversification initiative” underway since 2008 to expand the company’s range of activities “beyond the cell-based RNAi services that have established Cenix as a global leader in various applications of RNAi screening over the past 11 years”, it explained.
The Belgian subsidiary also comes “at a particularly strategic time in the maturation of the RNAi field, which we are eager to help drive further forward in the years to come, now through both our original Dresden team and our new Flanders unit”, commented Dr Christophe Echeverri, chief executive officer and chief scientific officer of Cenix BioScience.
