SAN DIEGO, Calif. and WILMINGTON, Mass., March 12, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Crown Bioscience, a global drug discovery and development services company providing translational platforms to advance oncology, inflammation, cardiovascular and metabolic disease research today announced a licensing agreement with Charles River Laboratories International, Inc.’s Research Models and Services business.

The agreement, designed to expand access to CrownBio’s ZDSD (Zucker Diabetic Sprague-Dawley) rat provides Charles River, a global leader in research model distribution, an exclusive license to breed and distribute the ZDSD model. The agreement also guarantees CrownBio with a premium quality and prioritized supply of ZDSD models to support their global service platforms. Charles River’s commercial distribution of the model is expected to begin by mid-summer 2019.

The ZDSD rat is a highly translatable rodent model of metabolic syndrome, obesity, dyslipidemia, and diabetes with complications such as cardiac dysfunction, proteinuria, and impaired wound healing. It has a polygenic background and intact leptin pathway. The ZDSD rat more closely mimics human disease development. Unlike some other rat models of metabolic disease, it does not rely on monogenic leptin or leptin receptor mutations for development of obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

Proprietary to CrownBio, the ZDSD rat was developed by crossing the ZDF rat (Lean +/+) with the CD (SD) rat and selectively inbred for obesity and diabetes traits for more than 35 generations. It has also been characterized as a novel model of diabetic nephropathy.

 “The ZDSD rat has proven to be a leading translational model for obesity, diabetes, and metabolic disease with complications. I am confident that this exciting agreement with Charles River will extend the reach of this model.” said Dr. Jim Wang, Senior Vice President of CrownBio’s Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease division.

“We are proud to expand access to the ZDSD model. Metabolic diseases, particularly diabetes, are increasingly common and have significant impact globally. Providing access to a translatable model to study this important set of diseases will help progress research forward, toward the ultimate goal of delivering safe, effective therapeutics to patients,” said Colin Dunn, Ph.D., Corporate Senior Vice President, Global Research Models & Services of Charles River.