AMRI and Ono Pharmaceutical Co. have entered into a new five-year service agreement that may cover a range of services from early drug discovery to cGMP manufacturing. The two companies have already agreed to medicinal chemistry projects within the new framework, collaborating on hit-to-lead and lead optimization for two new molecules, with the work to take place at AMRI’s medicinal chemistry laboratories in Albany, NY.

An early adopter of AMRI’s SMARTSOURCING™ concept, Ono has utilized AMRI’s integrated global facilities and capabilities for projects ranging from early drug discovery, including high-throughput screening (HTS), biology support and computer-aided drug discovery (CADD), to multiple medicinal chemistry programs and a variety of drug development and cGMP programs.

Thomas E. D’Ambra, Ph.D., chairman, president and chief executive officer of AMRI, said, “We are pleased to extend and broaden our service agreement with Ono. During the past few years, Ono has become a very important client for AMRI and we would like to acknowledge the deepening relationship between our companies. Our project management teams and the scientists on all the Ono projects, from Singapore to the U.S., enjoy working with our counterparts at Ono and they are a valuable customer and partner.”

Kazuhito Kawabata, Ph.D., member of the Ono’s board, as well as its executive officer and executive director, Discovery and Research, said, “We appreciate AMRI’s integrated capabilities and global reach, and believe that they are the partner of choice to mutually work toward the best decisions and outcomes for many of our projects. We look forward to continuing our relationship across the drug discovery and development areas.”