INDIGO Offers Expansion of Industry-Leading FXR Assay

State College, PA (August 9, 2016) INDIGO Biosciences, the recognized industry leader in Nuclear Receptor research, announced the addition of the Mouse Farnesoid X Receptor (mFXR) assay to their FXR portfolio. This addition both complements INDIGO’s industry-leading human FXR assay and meets the demand for an expansion of the platform to include orthologue assays.

Also known as the Bile Acid Receptor (BAR), the Farnesoid X Receptor is expressed at high levels in the liver and intestine. It plays an important role in the regulation of hepatic triglyceride levels and its activation is key in the suppression of bile acid synthesis from cholesterol. FXR activation is regularly studied when examining the disease states of dyslipidemia, bile acid and xenobiotic metabolism, metabolic disease, and toxicology. FXR’s relationship to cholesterol has also served as a lead in the search for a solution to the obesity epidemic.

The introduction of Mouse FXR assay kits and services from INDIGO, along with the Human assay kits and services already available, allows for better pre-clinical predictability by eliminating the need to extrapolate human assay findings to the animal test phase. By providing a reliable and robust orthologue assay, INDIGO both meets industry demand and reinforces their mission to reduce the time, cost, and risk in the drug discovery process. Development of the new Mouse FXR assay also led to improvements to INDIGO’s human FXR assay, resulting in significantly greater assay sensitivity.

“The addition of Mouse FXR to our portfolio represents a significant expansion in drug discovery capabilities. INDIGO is excited to meet the increasing industry need for orthologue assay platforms for pre-clinical FXR research,” says Dr. Jack Vanden Heuvel, Chief Scientific Officer.

FXR’s importance spans across the pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and agribusiness industries. INDIGO’s FXR cell-based assay kits include everything required to properly screen for FXR activation. The kits are all-inclusive systems, including optimized media for use during cell culture and in preparing test compound treatments, an FXR reference agonist, luciferase detection reagents, and an assay plate.

About INDIGO Biosciences, Inc.
INDIGO Biosciences was founded in 2005 in State College, Pennsylvania, and has established itself as an industry-leading provider of both products and services focused on nuclear receptors. INDIGO offers both screening services and assay kits for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, agribusiness, and nutraceutical industries, as well as government research agencies and academic researchers.