Pharmacopeia, Biovitrum discover new class of compounds, advance development

By Elaine Rigoli

Tampa, Fla., Feb. 22 - Pharmacopeia announced Wednesday that the company, through its collaboration with Biovitrum AB, has discovered a new class of compounds that target a novel kinase involved in metabolic diseases.

Building on this achievement, the series will progress into the next phase, focused on compound optimization and advancement of the program toward development, according to a company news release.

"Our work with Biovitrum has produced excellent results in short order, and we are confident that our companies' complementary strengths will continue to drive success as we shift into the next phase of this collaboration," said Les Browne, Ph.D, Pharmacopeia president and chief executive officer, in a statement.

"Balancing collaborative efforts with our own internal drug discovery and development programs provides us with multiple avenues for generating a return on the investment we have made in building a highly productive discovery and development organization."

Under the terms of the collaboration, which is focused on multiple targets, Biovitrum will be responsible for advancing the compounds through preclinical and clinical development and onto the market.

Pharmacopeia is entitled to receive milestone payments if collaboration programs progress into lead optimization and through clinical development, the release said.

Additionally, if therapeutic products are marketed based on compounds derived from the collaboration, Pharmacopeia will be entitled to receive royalties on sales.

To date, Pharmacopeia's collaborations with multiple partners have resulted in four compounds (representing three partnered therapeutic programs) currently in human clinical trials and an additional six candidates that are progressing through preclinical development.

Pharmacopeia's partners are conducting phase 1 trials evaluating compounds targeting rheumatoid arthritis, an allergy/asthma indication and an inflammation indication.

Pharmacopeia creates and delivers novel therapeutics to address significant medical needs. The company is based in Princeton, N.J.

Biovitrum is one of the larger biopharma companies in Europe. With operations in Sweden and in the United Kingdom, Biovitrum conducts research and develops pharmaceuticals for both broad diseases and conditions that affect smaller patient populations.

© 2015 Prospect News.
All content on this website is protected by copyright law in the U.S. and elsewhere. For the use of the person downloading only.
Redistribution and copying are prohibited by law without written permission in advance from Prospect News.
Redistribution or copying includes e-mailing, printing multiple copies or any other form of reproduction.