The research major Aurigene Discovery Technologies has signed an exclusive worldwide license agreement with Debiopharm. This agreement excludes Japan and the rest of Asia to develop and commercialise Debio 0617, a novel inhibitor of an undisclosed oncology pathway.

Utilising its know-how and fragment-based drug delivery technology platform, Aurigene has generated potent leads against the target. Under the terms of the agreement, Debiopharm will pay Aurigene an upfront fee, as well as further payments according to predefined discovery, development and sales milestones.

While the Bangalore-based fully integrated, global biotech major is focused on small molecule and peptide drug discovery and development from target identification and validation to pre-IND drug candidates, the Europe-based Debiopharm Group (Debiopharm), a global biopharmaceutical development specialist, focuses on serious medical conditions and particularly oncology.

"Partnering with Debiopharm, a highly focused and successful drug development company, is highly synergistic for Aurigene, a drug discovery biotech. Aurigene has been collaborating with Debiopharm on two other programs for three years now, and the current licensing agreement with Debiopharm serves to reiterate the high quality of science and competence at Aurigene. This further strengthens the relationship between the companies," informed CSN Murthy, CEO, Aurigene.

"We are very excited to continue our collaboration with Aurigene. Their business model offers a one stop solution for structure guided drug design, lead optimization and preclinical work. The Debio 0617 project aims at developing inhibitors targeting a key oncology pathway, which plays essential roles in various solid tumours and haematological malignancies," said Rolland-Yves Mauvernay, president & founder of Debiopharm Group.

Debiopharm Group is a global biopharmaceutical development specialist that in-licenses promising biologics and small molecule drug candidates.

Established in Bangalore, India, in 2002, Aurigene Discovery Technologies Ltd, is a drug discovery biotech focused on small molecule and peptide drug discovery and development from target identification and validation to pre-IND drug candidates in oncology, metabolic disorders and autoimmune diseases, with a proven track record of successful partnerships with big and medium-sized pharma and biotech companies globally.

With proprietary Structural Biology and Fragment-based Drug Design technology platforms, and experienced scientific leadership returning from the US and Europe, Aurigene is a fully integrated operation with expertise in Hit Generation to Drug Development Candidates for IND nomination. Work conducted in-house with cutting edge facilities include, assay development, preclinical in vivo studies, together with crystallization and bioNMR capabilities, accelerating Aurigene'e drug discovery process.