Debiopharm Group (Debiopharm), a Swiss-based global biopharmaceutical group of companies with a focus on the development of innovative prescription drugs that target unmet medical needs, and Aurigene Discovery Technologies Ltd (Aurigene), a Bangalore-based fully integrated, global biotech focused on small molecule and peptide drug discovery and development from target identification and validation to pre-IND drug candidates, announced the successful nomination of a development candidate, Debio 0617, a novel inhibitor of an undisclosed oncology pathway. Debio 0617 has started IND enabling studies and is expected to enter clinical development in 2012.
Debiopharm and Aurigene have been collaborating for five years. In November 2008, Aurigene's fragment-based drug delivery technology platform had generated potent leads against the target. Both companies signed an exclusive worldwide license agreement, excluding the territories of Japan and the rest of Asia, to develop and commercialise Debio 0617. They defined a target molecular profile at the beginning of the programme. Now, 20 months later, both teams have successfully identified the development candidate which better fits the initial target molecular profile.
"What exciting news! As we expected, this programme has delivered a development candidate molecule as well as several potential follow-on compounds," said Rolland-Yves Mauvernay, president and founder of Debiopharm Group. "Once again, Aurigene has demonstrated its dedication and professionalism."
"This represents an important success not just for this scientific programme, but also for the strategic path that was established through this agreement between Debiopharm and Aurigene. This is a truly synergistic relationship that takes advantage of the proven experience, expertise and processes at Debiopharm, coupled with the speed, flexibility and high-quality science at Aurigene. It also paves the way for a larger synergistic alliance between the companies," added CSN Murthy, CEO of Aurigene.
Debiopharm Group (Debiopharm) is a Swiss-based global biopharmaceutical group of companies with a focus on the development of prescription drugs that target unmet medical needs. The group in-licenses, develops and/or co-develops promising biological and small molecule drug candidates having reached clinical development phases I, II or III.
Established in Bangalore, India, in 2002, Aurigene Discovery Technologies Ltd. is a drug discovery biotech focused on small molecule and peptide drug discovery. With proprietary Structural Biology and Fragment-based Drug Design technology platforms, and experienced scientific leadership, Aurigene is a fully integrated Drug Discovery company focused on small molecule and peptide drug discovery and development from target identification and validation to pre-IND drug candidates in oncology, metabolic disorders, autoimmune diseases and anti-infectives.