About Pharma Research Toronto
Pharma Research Toronto (previously known as ARIUS Research Inc.) is a division of Hoffmann-La Roche Limited. Pharma Research Toronto is focused on discovering and developing the next wave of antibody therapeutics to treat cancer and other diseases. Its employees reside in a 14000 sq. ft. laboratory in the heart of downtown Toronto.
At the core of the division is its unique, proprietary FunctionFIRST technology platform that generates and selects therapeutic antibodies based on their activity and before the antigen is known. This antibody generation engine has enabled Pharma Research Toronto to grow a pipeline of several hundred antibody drug candidates.
Our Technology
Our FunctionFIRST Technology
Function is the ability of a drug to act against a disease or disease process. A functional drug is one that is active or effective in a certain disease. Pharma Research Toronto has called its unique method, or platform for discovering new antibodies, “FunctionFIRST” because its approach is based on establishing efficacy before any other step in the drug development process. Our technology generates and tests as many antibodies as possible to determine which ones work the best. Only antibodies that trigger certain signals in the cancer cell to cause cell death are selected for future development. We believe our platform provides us with a significant advantage over other research methods in the discovery and development of active, functional antibody drugs.
Under this approach, we have generated a broad range of functional antibodies.
How does it work?
Cell surface antigens are molecules on the surface of cells that antibody drugs can bind to and cause a reaction within the cell. Sometimes antigens change when a cell is part of a disease like cancer and it was hoped that this would give researchers new opportunities to discover drugs. It is now known that only very specific areas, or epitopes, within a targeted antigen will trigger the desired response. Finding an antibody that binds indiscriminately anywhere on a antigen is not always good enough. An antibody must bind precisely to the right spot on the antigen; it must hit the target within the target.
Pharma Research Toronto focuses on function first
At Pharma Research Toronto, instead of aiming just for the antigen, we aim for that precise target. We concentrate on efficacy, by triggering a certain cell signal or cell death with our antibodies. After all, that is the strategic objective of all antibody development, regardless of the research path taken.
By using cell signal or cell death as our measure of success, we have, de facto, ensured that our antibody has hit the right spot:
the target within the target.
Interested in a career with us? Please visit http://careers.roche.com
For general questions about Pharma Research Toronto, please contact us at:
Pharma Research Toronto
55 York Street, 15th Floor
Toronto, Ontario M5J 1R7
Tel: 416 862 2323
Fax: 416 862 9696