SEQUENOM Enters Strategic Collaboration With Provid Pharmaceuticals To Accelerate Lead Program Into Small Molecule Discovery
SAN DIEGO, April 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SEQUENOM, Inc. (Nasdaq: SQNM - news), a discovery genetics company, today announced a strategic collaboration with Provid Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a product-oriented drug discovery company with expertise in small molecule therapeutics. In addition to an equity investment, Provid will receive research funding to develop novel drugs based on genetic targets discovered by SEQUENOM, and is eligible to receive milestones and royalties on future products. Initial work in the collaboration will focus on SEQUENOM's lead cardiovascular disease candidate target, which the Company's population genetics program suggests is associated with heart disease in one out of 12 people, or more than 20 million individuals in the United States alone
``We believe that this partnership may represent the first time a potential blockbuster target, which has been discovered by genetic means, has moved forward into a medicinal chemistry program,'' said Toni Schuh, Ph.D., SEQUENOM's President and Chief Executive Officer. ``This speaks to the efficiency of our proprietary disease gene discovery approach. Some of our advanced candidate targets are ready for further development and value creation, and Provid, with premier expertise in structure-based small molecule design and optimization, is an ideal partner to advance these efforts.''
``We are enthusiastic about our strategic collaboration with SEQUENOM and the confidence the company has placed in the Provid team through their investment,'' said Gary Olson, Ph.D., Provid's President and Chief Executive Officer. ``SEQUENOM's unique approach to target identification and Provid's drug discovery expertise has created an exceptional opportunity for the companies to create novel therapeutics together. This is a model for the drug industry of the future.''
SEQUENOM has discovered more than 120 high-impact candidate disease genes, each indicating a potential impact on the health of 5 to 20 million individuals in the United States alone. In addition to cardiovascular disease, initial candidate portfolios are under investigation in various disease areas, including diabetes, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, anxiety and depression. SEQUENOM owns 12 patents and more than 50 pending patent applications based on these disease associations.
SEQUENOM will continue its efforts to identify relevant candidate disease genes and transition these genes into novel therapeutics. SEQUENOM believes the most focused and cost effective course toward drug discovery and development is to implement a partnering approach for most of its candidate disease genes, while choosing a small subset of high value genes for internal development.
About Provid Pharmaceuticals
Provid Pharmaceuticals is a product-oriented drug discovery company located in Piscataway, New Jersey. Provid's mission is to create novel, small molecule therapeutics for significant human diseases using the company's strength in medicinal chemistry and its proprietary peptide mimetics technology platform. The company's business model balances internal drug discovery with strategic corporate alliances. Provid believes that a significant opportunity has developed to collaborate with academic groups and biotechnology companies that have novel biology and drug targets and need chemistry expertise to transform them into drug molecules... |
