In December 2004, ActivX Biosciences was acquired by Kyorin Pharmaceutical, a Japanese drug developer. ActivX Biosciences is a biotechnology company in the field of activity-based proteomics, the identification and analysis of active proteins - a developer of a high-throughput chemistry platform for directly measuring protein activity. By focusing on active proteins, ActivX is addressing the biochemical mechanisms of disease more directly than standard genomics and proteomics techniques. ActivX technology includes novel chemistry integrated into a high-throughput platform to rapidly interrogate the activities of proteins in all ranges of abundance in any biological sample. ActivX is using its proprietary technology to solve the most important problems in drug discovery and development, including identification of novel drug targets, determination of target selectivity for drug candidates and the assessment of efficacy and toxicity for candidate and established drugs. Aradigm is the developer of the AERx System, which delivers drugs into the bloodstream via inhalation ("transpulmonary delivery"). This method of delivery is especially valuable for several classes of drugs. One such drug class currently requires needle administration by injection (e.g., insulin). The other includes drugs that offer convenient delivery in pill form, but may be more useful with a faster onset-of-action (since lung absorption can be near-instantaneous), an example of which is pain medication. Many experts believe that transpulmonary delivery systems like Aradigm's AERx System are versatile and may significantly improve disease management
