EDISON, N.J., Nov. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- DGI BioTechnologies, Inc. today announced that it has received a major milestone payment from Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE: NVO - news), a multinational pharmaceutical company based in Denmark, as a result of a collaboration established in 1999 for the discovery of small molecule mimics for insulin. DGI BioTechnologies utilized its integrated drug discovery platform, Diogenesis® to identify and simplify the critical interaction between insulin and its receptor that underlies the mechanism of action of insulin. Financial terms of the milestone payment were not disclosed.
DGI BioTechnologies' Diogenesis® is a drug discovery platform that utilizes peptides to first identify the ``hotspots'' of protein interactions, and then subdivide and simplify them. For hormones like insulin and their receptors, these hotspots are the contact points responsible for initiating hormonal signaling. DGI BioTechnologies' peptides replace or block those protein signals under study and provide useful molecular structures that enable the identification of small organic molecular drug leads with agonist or antagonistic capabilities. This milestone has lead to novel peptide mimics of insulin.
``We are delighted at the achievement of this important milestone,'' said Dr. Arthur Blume, President and CEO of DGI BioTechnologies. ``DGI Biotechnologies' accomplishments under the Novo Nordisk agreement clearly demonstrate our expertise in defining the interactions between complex proteins, leading to the pioneer of drug discovery. Our findings provide additional validation for our Diogenesis® platform, which was the initial underpinning for the collaboration with Novo Nordisk, a recognized leader in diabetes care.''
``DGI BioTechnologies collaboration with Novo Nordisk is a success in further growing involvement with worldwide pharmaceutical leaders,'' said Professor Jesper Zeuthen, Managing Director of the BankInvest Biomedical Venture Funds, Copenhagen, Denmark, a primary investor of the Company. ``The mimics presented to Novo Nordisk proved to be 1,000 times more potent than required, reiterating the Company's drug discovery platform value. We are proud to be one of the main investors in DGI and very happy to see the validation of DGI technology through its collaboration with Novo Nordisk. We are also pleased that these remarkable results have been obtained with one of the leading Danish pharmaceutical companies.''
Novo Nordisk A/S is a focused healthcare company and the world leader in diabetes care. In addition, Novo Nordisk manufactures and markets a variety of other pharmaceutical products. With headquarters in Denmark, Novo Nordisk employs approximately 16,000 people in 68 countries and markets its products in 179 countries. Its B shares are listed on the stock exchanges in Copenhagen and London. Its ADRs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ``NVO.'' For further company information visit novonordisk.com .
DGI BioTechnologies, Inc. is a privately-held biotechnology-based research company formed in January 1996 to develop its proprietary small molecule drug discovery platform, called Diogenesis®. DGI BioTechnologies utilizes 10,000 square feet of newly equipped laboratory space in Edison, New Jersey. DGI presently has 33 employees in the fields of proteomics, molecular immunology, molecular pharmacology, and structural biology. DGI is focused on the identification of novel site-directed assays and promising drug leads, which regulate protein-protein interactions for license to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies as well as protein network identification and target validation for post genomic discoveries... |
