Cyclenium Pharma Inc., an emerging pharmaceutical company specialising in the research and development of novel drug candidates based on its proprietary macrocyclic chemistry technology, and Haplogen GmbH, a biotechnology company developing anti-infective drugs, have signed a research pact aimed at the discovery of novel pharmaceutical candidates in multiple disease areas.

The collaboration brings together two next generation drug discovery platforms: Cyclenium's CMRT Technology-derived QUEST Library and associated hit-to-lead optimisation expertise with Haplogen's unique haploid genetics technology and expertise in host target identification, validation and screening.

The companies will initially focus on certain anti-viral Haplogen targets, with targets in other therapeutic indications being phased-in as the research progresses. For Cyclenium, this is the fifth discovery collaboration established over the past year.

"We are extremely excited about the potential of this research collaboration with Haplogen, the leader in applying cutting-edge haploid genetics technology for drug discovery," stated Helmut Thomas, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Cyclenium Pharma.

"It was immediately apparent to us that Haplogen's proven expertise and success in identifying and characterising novel host factors together with our proprietary CMRT macrocyclic chemistry technology would be a powerful combination for the discovery and development of new therapeutic agents."

"Cyclenium's proprietary macrocyclic library appears ideal for use against the challenging anti-viral and other targets identified using our haploid genetics platform," stated Georg Casari, Ph.D., chief executive officer of Haplogen. "We look forward to working with their experienced and successful research team in progressing our drug discovery programmes."