LONDON - The gene therapy company Oxford Biomedica signed a research agreement with AstraZeneca plc, allowing the pharmaceutical company to use its LentiVector gene delivery technology in drug discovery.

The value of the agreement was not disclosed, but this is Oxford Biomedica's third collaboration to use its gene vectors for drug discovery outside the field of gene therapy. The other two are with Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, one for target validation and the other for gene control technology in drug screens.

This has prompted Oxford Biomedica, based in Oxford, England, to set up a separate drug discovery unit, to develop discovery technologies that arise from the company's core program. Other technologies that could be applied in this area include hypoxia control, a DNA construct that triggers gene expression in response to low oxygen levels, and MarcroGen for delivering macrophages.

CEO Alan Kingsman said, "This deal adds further confirmation that our technology is not only at the forefront of gene therapy, but that it can also be applied to the new field of gene-driven drug discovery."

LentiVector has two attributes that make it useful in target validation: It generates no detectable adverse effects on the cell or tissue that could be confused with the effect of the candidate gene, and it can function in non-dividing cells or cells that are dividing slowly. This is a significant advantage over retroviruses, the company said.