Newron Pharmaceuticals and Zambon Group announced the signing of a collaboration and licence agreement aimed at discovering, developing and commercializing novel compounds active as sodium and calcium channel blockers for the treatment of pain conditions, a growing market of unmet medical need.
Newron's contribution to the collaboration is based on its wide experience in the area of ion channels and will include the licensing of selected Newron proprietary structures to Zambon Group, an international pharmaceutical and chemical company characterized by strong emphasis on innovation as well as on medical needs. Zambon Group will contribute to the success of the joint-project with a strong involvement of its research facilities located in Switzerland dedicated to drug discovery. The collaboration will take advantage of Zambon Group's recognized expertise in lead optimization and in all phases of pharmaceutical development.
"This collaboration highlights the value of Newron's proprietary compounds and expertise in targeting the modulation of ion channels, a core area for Newron Discovery Research with strong validation in several diseases of the nervous system. We believe that signing alliances, such the present one, is the winning strategy to strengthen Newron's discovery capabilities by accessing further key competencies and diversifying the early stage project portfolio, which in turn will broaden our future product pipeline," said Patricia Salvati, Newron Pharmaceuticals' VP of Discovery.
Besides the two programmes which are part of the collaboration with Zambon Group, Newron is pursuing other significant discovery projects in the CNS area and has initiated phase II trials with ralfinamide (NW-1029), a potent sodium channel blocker that was discovered in house for neuropathic pain.
"Zambon Group is currently engaged in several projects in preclinical and clinical stages in the respiratory area, inflammation and pain relief. This new project will add an important contribution to richness of the Zambon Group R&D project pipeline. This cooperation agreement will also leverage the peculiar and complementary expertise of both parties and exploit the capabilities of the Discovery Center of Zambon Group S.p.A. in Switzerland, " said Carlo Di Padova, Zambon Group's R&D Director.
Newron and Zambon Group will jointly fund and collaborate in the whole R&D programme including pre-clinical and clinical studies by pooling resources and expertise, with the aim of accelerating product development. The parties will act via a joint Steering Committee aimed at coordinating all development and commercial activities.