ExonHit S.A., a biotech company focused on personalized medicine, has extended the drug discovery collaboration up to December 2013 to focus on the identification, development and commercialization of drugs for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, pain and ophthalmology with Allergan Sales, LLC. The collaboration which was initiated in December 2002, and extended several times.  

A clear example of success and the type of value being created within the collaboration was reported in the first half of 2010, with the sub-licensing of EHT/AGN 0001(AGN-209323) by Allergan to Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. EHT/AGN 0001 is a phase II, orally bio-available small molecule in clinical development for neuropathic pain. The agreement between Allergan and Bristol-Myers Squibb also encompassed EHT/AGN 0002 and associated back-up compounds.

“We are very pleased that our long standing strategic collaboration with Allergan will continue until the end of 2013. The collaboration has created significant value for both organizations, and we are optimistic that it will continue to build upon recent successes and advance additional existing preclinical programs into clinical development,” said Loïc Maurel, CEO of Exonhit. Detailed financial terms were not disclosed.

Exonhit’s SpliceArray platform is a patented microarray design that incorporates a specific probe configuration, enabling an exhaustive monitoring of RNA splice variants in humans, mice and rats. The Human Genome Wide SpliceArray monitors known and predicted alternative RNA splicing events in close to 21,000 human genes and is used in the Company’s biomarker and target discovery process.