Vernalis Plc and Servier Research Group Enter Into Drug Discovery Collaboration
- Further Endorsing Vernalis' Structure Based Drug Design Platform -
WINNERSH, U.K., and NEUILLY sur SEINE, France, 17 May 2007 -- Vernalis plc (LSE:
VER, Nasdaq: VNLS) and Servier, France's largest privately-owned pharmaceutical
company, today announced that they entered into a joint, three-year, oncology
drug discovery collaboration.
'Cancers represent a major cause of mortality worldwide and Servier is committed
to provide patients with novel therapeutic approaches for treating these
devastating pathologies. We are confident that the collaboration with Vernalis
will efficiently complement our research activities and help us in reaching our
objectives' said Laurent Perret, MD, PhD, President Servier Research and
Development.
'The partnership with Vernalis is a major step in our strategy to increase our
efforts in the development of novel anti-cancer therapeutic approaches. This
collaboration will expedite the discovery of innovative compounds with potential
use in therapeutic indications with high unmet medical need' added Emmanuel
Canet, MD, PhD, Vice President Servier Research and Development.
Under the terms of the collaboration which utilises Vernalis' proprietary drug
discovery platform on this undisclosed target, Vernalis will receive an upfront
payment and a share in the downstream success of the product, terms of which are
not disclosed.
Simon Sturge, CEO of Vernalis, commented
'The collaboration with Servier is an important step for Vernalis and further
validates our fragment-based drug discovery platform. This platform is currently
being used to progress a number of our research programmes. This collaboration
with Servier follows on from a recent announcement that another of our partners,
Novartis, has selected a second Hsp90 compound, also discovered using our
innovative platform, as a preclinical development candidate. We are delighted to
announce this relationship with Servier and look forward to working with them to
develop exciting new cancer treatment opportunities.'
There will be significant newsflow in the coming months for Vernalis, with
expected progress to include:
• Frova(R): Menstrual Migraine PDUFA date -19 August 2007
• V10153: Data from Phase IIa - Novel long-acting thrombolytic for acute
ischaemic stroke
• V3381: Data from Phase II - Dual NMDA antagonist and MAO-A inhibitor for
neuropathic pain
• V24343: Data from Phase I - CB1 antagonist for obesity
• Hsp90: Start of Phase I - Novel oncology treatment in Cancer (partnered
with Novartis) |
