(Santa Clara, Calif., May 10, 2016) — Crown Bioscience, a wholly owned subsidiary of Crown Bioscience International (TWSE: ticker 6554) and a global drug discovery and development solutions company providing translational platforms to advance oncology and metabolic disease research, has recently published on the establishment and characterization of a set of NSCLC patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models that harbor non-canonical EGFR mutations.

EGFR is an important molecular target for drug treatment; however, the lack of relevant experimental models bearing non-canonical EGFR mutations (such as exon 20 insertions) has been a major hurdle in the discovery of new treatments for patients with this specific NSCLC molecular subtype.

CrownBio’s newly established models have been trialed with a range of EGFR inhibitors – including I, II, and III generation TKIs as well as Erbitux^® – and their poor response to therapy mirrors the clinical outcomes.

With the addition of these models to the large collection of HuPrime^® PDXs, CrownBio has developed a highly comprehensive panel of NSCLC models with either classic or non-canonical EGFR mutations. These unique models are available now to clients for testing combination strategies to overcome drug resistance or to develop the next generation of EGFR inhibitors.

“The establishment of these new models demonstrates our commitment to advancing NSCLC drug discovery programs”, said Henry Li, Vice President of Translational Oncology at CrownBio. “Our collection of NSCLC models now includes a selection of both models with classic and non-canonical EGFR mutations, positioning CrownBio at the forefront of drug discovery research for EGFR-mutated NSCLC”, continued Li.

CrownBio’s track record of publication on NSCLC research in peer reviewed international scientific journals testifies its commitment to excellence as a provider of preclinical solutions for oncology drug discovery.

More information on the newly developed models and on CrownBio products and services can be found at www.crownbio.com

About Crown Bioscience Inc.

Crown Bioscience is a global drug discovery and development solutions company providing translational platforms to advance oncology and metabolic disease research. With an extensive portfolio of relevant models and predictive tools, Crown Bioscience enables clients to deliver superior clinical candidates. For more information, please visit www.crownbio.com.