New biotech alliance focus on diseases of nerve injury and pain

[Guest guest]

New biotech alliance to focus on diseases of nerve injury and pain

Wednesday, 11-Aug-2004 News-Medical.Net

NeuroTargets Ltd, a discovery-led biotechnology company ‘spun-out’ from

the University of Bristol, has formed an exciting new alliance with

BioFocus plc, a world leader in collaborative drug discovery, to focus

on diseases of nerve injury and pain.

NeuroTargets was founded in 1999 by ANGLE plc to commercialise the

research of Professor Wynick at Bristol University. The company

discovers and develops new drugs for neurological diseases. It has

developed a highly efficient, patented technology for discovering novel

and rarely expressed genes, which are associated with neuropathy, such

as diabetic neuropathy, and neuropathic pain. It has also validated a

number of promising drug targets, including the second galanin receptor

sub-type, and a chemokine receptor.

Under the terms of this agreement, BioFocus and NeuroTargets will apply

their complementary expertise to co-develop lead compounds and drug

candidates that bind to a specific receptor involved in nerve repair. It

is anticipated that candidates with proven safety and efficacy will be

licensed to pharmaceutical companies for late stage clinical development

and commercialisation.

This new partnership combines NeuroTargets’ leading expertise in target

validation and product screening with BioFocus’s proven capability in

early stage drug discovery.

Professor Wynick, founder and CSO of NeuroTargets said: “We are

extremely pleased to be working with BioFocus because of their proven

ability to identify quality candidates from validated targets. This

alliance represents a significant step forward in NeuroTargets’

strategic move from a genomics-based company to one that develops novel

therapeutic products for disorders related to nerve injury. ”

Geoff McMillan, BioFocus’s Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted to

establish a relationship with NeuroTargets, a specialist provider of

drug development expertise. This collaboration highlights BioFocus’s

intent to identify and exploit its core capabilities in GPCR drug

discovery by augmenting our established pipeline and increasing

downstream value through strategic partnership.”

http://www.bris.ac.uk