Cambridge, UK, April 21 2012: Horizon Discovery (Horizon), a leading provider of research tools to support translational genomics research and the development of personalized medicines, today announced it has won the Queen’s Award 2012 for Enterprise, in the International Trade category.
The prestigious award is in recognition of Horizon Discovery’s outstanding achievement in export growth, having shown overall growth exceeding 360% over the three year period assessed.
Founded in 2007 and based in Cambridge, UK, Horizon has become one of the fastest growing biotechnology companies in Europe. Expanding over 100% in each year of trading, it now has 70 FTE’s working out of its research facility in Cambridge. This growth has been built upon an international customer base that includes over 100 academic research organizations and 100 biotechnology, diagnostic and pharmaceutical companies, using a direct selling and partnership strategy. Greater than 90% of Horizon Discovery sales are currently made into markets outside of the UK, including the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Singapore. Of the European market, Germany, Switzerland and Austria are Horizon’s primary sources of trade.
Underpinning Horizon’s global success is the Company’s proprietary technology, GENESIS, which is the world’s most precise genome editing technology. Using GENESIS, Horizon is able to alter any endogenous gene sequence of a human or mammalian cell line quickly, reliably and without introducing unwanted and confounding genotypes and/or phenotypes. Horizon has harnessed GENESIS to create over 400 X-MAN cell lines, the world’s first source of genetically-defined and patient-relevant human cell lines, accurately modeling the disease-causing mutations found in cancer patients. These ‘patients-in-a-test-tube’ are being used by academic and industry leaders to identify the effect of individual genetic mutations on drug activity, patient responsiveness, and resistance, leading to the successful prediction of which patient sub-groups will respond to currently-available and future drug treatments. This enables the design of shorter, more focused, and less expensive clinical trials, ultimately providing the tools to identify the ‘right drugs’ for the ‘right patients’ based upon the unique genetic mutations that define their disease
GENESIS and X-MAN derived products and services are also finding wide industrial application in bio-pharmaceutical process optimization, clinical diagnostic development, and the provision of reference standards for genomic based clinical research platforms.
Dr Darrin M Disley, CEO, Horizon commented “Horizon has worked hard to assemble a team of first class executives, capable of addressing the wide array of commercial opportunities available to the business. Our ability to leverage our technology, product and service base to deliver a combination of large multi-national contracts, strategic alliances, IP assets, spinouts, and direct sales, as well as our successful Centres of Excellence programme, has contributed to our rapid growth over the past years, of which I am very proud. Over the coming years we expect further growth in the company’s international customer base which will drive another year of 100% growth in 2012 and greater than 50% for many years to come.”
About Horizon Discovery | www.horizondiscovery.com
Horizon Discovery Limited (Horizon) is a leading provider of research tools to support translational genomics research and the development of personalized medicines. The Company’s proprietary technology, GENESIS, is the world’s most precise genome editing technology. Using GENESIS, Horizon is able to alter any endogenous gene sequence of a human or mammalian cell-line quickly, reliably and without introducing unwanted and confounding genotypes and/or phenotypes.
Horizon has harnessed GENESIS to create over 400 X-MAN cell lines, the world’s first source of genetically-defined and patient-relevant human cell lines, accurately modeling the disease-causing mutations found in cancer patients. These ‘patients-in-a-test-tube’ are being used by academic and industry leaders to identify the effect of individual genetic mutations on drug activity, patient responsiveness, and resistance, leading to the successful prediction of which patient sub-groups will respond to currently-available and future drug treatments. This enables the design of shorter, more focused, and less expensive clinical trials, ultimately providing the tools to identify the ‘right drugs’ for the ‘right patients’ based upon the unique genetic mutations that define their disease.
In addition to the X-MAN cell lines, Horizon provides GENESIS and X-MAN derived products and services, with industrial application in: bio-pharmaceutical process optimization; clinical diagnostic development; drug discovery & development; and the provision of reference standards for genomic-based clinical research platforms.
Horizon Discovery received a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade in April2012, and was named Business Weekly’s Business of the Year in March 2012.
GENESIS and X-MAN are registered trademarks of Horizon Discovery Limited.
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Contacts:
At Horizon:
Dr Darrin M Disley
CEO
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 655 587
Email: d.disley@horizondiscovery.com
Media enquiries:
Lorna Cuddon
Zyme Communications
Tel: +44 (0)7811 996 942
Email: lorna.cuddon@zymecommunications.com
Twitter: zymecomms
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