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17 August 2009, New consortium to develop drugs for neglected tropical diseases A new consortium has been formed to boost drug development for the treatment of African sleeping sickness and Leishmaniasis, diseases that affect millions of people worldwide. A total budget of nearly 3.6 million euros has been allocated over the next 4 years to develop effective drugs for these diseases. The consortium is formed by IOTA Pharmaceuticals, Mercachem, Nycomed, the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative, the Dutch Royal Tropical Institute, the University of Bern, the VU University of Amsterdam and TI Pharma.
Rob Leurs, the project’s principal investigator, comments: “African sleeping sickness and Leishmaniasis are diseases caused by parasites. Both diseases are prominent on the World Health Organization’s list of neglected tropical diseases for which no effective medication is available.” The new consortium will target parasite-specific Phosphodiesterases to develop and screen drug candidates for clinical evaluation and the treatment of both diseases. Leurs continues: “This new project combines the knowledge and experience of leading European laboratories and promises to make a major contribution to the treatment of neglected tropical diseases.” African sleeping sickness Recent estimates indicate that over 60 million people are at risk of contracting the African sleeping sickness (also called African Trypanosomiasis), with 300,000 new cases occurring each year. The disease appears in 36 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and is endemic in south-east Uganda and western Kenya, killing more than 40,000 Africans each year. The African sleeping sickness parasite, most commonly Trypanosoma brucei, is transmitted to humans by tsetse fly bites.
More >> Leishmaniasis Leishmaniasis is found in many tropical and sub-tropical countries, in settings as diverse as the rainforests of Central and South America to the deserts of West Asia and the Middle East. 350 million people are at risk of developing the disease, with as many as 12 million people worldwide being infected and 1.5–2 million new cases occurring each year. Leishmaniasis presents in cutaneous, visceral and mucosal forms, with the visceral form of the disease alone having an estimated incidence of 500,000 new cases each year, and and causing 60,000 deaths. Many different Leishmania species are implicated in the disease, which is transmitted by sand flies.
Neglected diseases framework
Neglected diseases such as African Sleeping Sickness, Leishmaniasis and Malaria, represent a major economic burden on developing countries. Within its project portfolio, TI Pharma is seeking to develop solutions to these diseases, mobilizing public and private partners in multilateral consortia – bringing together a wide range of competences and resources. This new project is TI Pharma’s fourth initiative in neglected diseases. Other projects focus on the development of a protective malaria vaccine, a ‘proof of concept’ vaccine for Chikungunya, an effective HIV therapy, and formulations that can resist tropical conditions without refrigeration for both oxytocin and insulin as well as vaccines for hepatitis B and influenza. These projects illustrate TI Pharma's commitment to neglected diseases research.
For more information, please contact Ingeborg van der Heijden: + 31 71 3322036.
The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) is a not-for-profit product development partnership founded in 2003 by five publicly-funded research organizations – Brazil’s Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, the Indian Council of Medical Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute, the Malaysian Ministry of Health, and Institut Pasteur, an international research organization as well as WHO’s Tropical Diseases Research program and an international humanitarian organization called Médecins Sans Frontières. DNDi has developed the largest R&D portfolio for kinetoplastid diseases ever and, with its partners, has already made three new treatments for neglected diseases available. For further information, please visit www.dndi.org.
IOTA Pharmaceuticals is a privately-owned drug discovery company, providing structure-based molecular design, compound screening and lead development services to its partners in the pharmaceutical industry. IOTA specialises in fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD), applying its proprietary FBDD technology to produce selective drugs from commercially relevant gene families, which include the phosphodiesterases. We work with clients on a target-exclusive basis, providing access to our proprietary technology and considerable pharmaceutical discovery experience within the framework of dedicated Drug Discovery Partnerships (DDPs). For more information about IOTA, please visit www.iotapharma.com.
More >>
Mercachem is a privately owned, independent contract research organization offering state-of-the-art organic chemistry, medical chemistry and process R&D services to accelerate the drug discovery and development process in a flexible and cost-effective way. Mercachem was founded in 1997 and employs 105 people. The company is located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. It moved to a brand-new laboratory facility covering an area of 3000 m² in 2006. Working for major pharmaceutical and biotech companies throughout the world, Mercachem is recognized for its high-quality products and services and its fast problem-solving capabilities. More information on Mercachem can be found on the company website (www.mercachem.com).
Nycomed is a privately owned global pharmaceutical company with a differentiated portfolio focused on branded medicines in gastroenterology, respiratory and inflammatory diseases, pain, osteoporosis and tissue management. An extensive range of OTC products completes the portfolio. Its R&D is built to be open for partnerships as in-licensing is a cornerstone of the company’s growth strategy. Nycomed products are available in more than 100 countries. It has strong platforms in Europe and in fast-growing markets such as Russia/CIS, and Latin America. While the US and Japan are commercialised through best-in-class partners, Nycomed will further strengthen its position in key Asian markets. Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, in 2008 the company generated total sales of c 3,4 billion and an adjusted EBITDA of c 1,2 billion. For more information visit www.nycomed.com. Nycomed in the Netherlands is located in Hoofddorp where it employs approximately 105 people. (website)
The Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) is an independent center for knowledge and expertise for international cooperation. The institute works on sustainable development, poverty reduction, improvement of health and cultural preservation. KIT has been working in developing countries for almost 100 years and is one of the oldest public-private partnerships in the Netherlands. KIT is increasingly active in the private sector. (website for KIT Biomedical Research)
University of Bern
VU University Amsterdam, with its excellent educational and research programs brings together talents from a wide range of disciplines and from many different countries. For VU University Amsterdam academic endeavor is more valuable when it makes a contribution to our world. For further information, visit www.vuamsterdam.com/home/index.cfm.
Within TI Pharma, consortia of industrial and academic research teams conduct groundbreaking, cross-disciplinary research projects that fit into the Priority Medicines program of the WHO. Each year, the Dutch government funds the top institute to the tune of 30 million euros. The pharmaceutical industry and academia each contribute an additional 15 million euros per year. TI Pharma is becoming an international leader in (bio)pharmaceutical research, training and education. TI Pharma’s fellows are trained in understanding the intricacies of the entire drug R&D process. For further information, visit www.tipharma.com.
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23rd April 2008 - Uppsala, Sweden, and Cambridge, England
New Fragment-based Drug Discovery Platform announced between IOTA Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Cambridge (UK), and Beactica AB, Uppsala (Sweden)
Two leading companies in the area of fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) today announced a new commercial alliance. IOTA Pharmaceuticals Ltd, based in Cambridge, UK, and Beactica AB, based in Uppsala, Sweden, will join forces to deploy a proprietary FBDD-based lead discovery and optimization platform.
The IOTA-Beactica platform couples comprehensive, site-directed FBDD libraries to state-of-the-art fragment and lead screening using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor technology, enabling the rapid progression of new discovery programs from concept to optimized lead.
Based on rapid determination of ligand-target interaction information, and using a unique combination of fragment-based drug screening and medicinal chemistry-led design approaches, applicable to a wide range of new targets, the platform will initially focus on the development of new classes of kinase inhibitors. The reagents, tools and technologies developed by the two companies will be commercialized through drug discovery partnerships with pharmaceutical companies active in the kinase area.
Dr Per Källblad, CEO of Beactica, said, "We are delighted to work with IOTA to expand our existing drug discovery platform. The combination of IOTA's proprietary FBDD engine with Beactica's SPR screening technology will be an excellent way to pursue the discovery and optimization of new kinase inhibitors.“
Dr David Bailey, heading IOTA, commented, "Fragment-based drug discovery is a fast, efficient and productive route to NCE discovery. Our combined technologies offer a comprehensive lead discovery solution to our pharma partners.“
About IOTA
IOTA Pharmaceuticals provides FBDD-based molecular design, compound screening and lead discovery services to its partners in the pharmaceutical industry. For more information about IOTA, please visit www.iotapharma.com
About Beactica
Beactica is a specialist drug discovery company, utilizing its proprietary methodologies to evaluate the biophysical interaction of molecules in order to generate novel therapeutics. For more information about Beactica, please visit www.beactica.com
Contact
Dr David Bailey, CEO IOTA
david.bailey@iotapharma.com
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| 21st December 2007 | | | New Fragment-based Drug Discovery Libraries announced in a commercial collaboration between IOTA Pharmaceuticals Ltd (Cambridge, UK) and Vitas-M Laboratory (Moscow, Russia)IOTA Pharmaceuticals Ltd, based in Cambridge, UK, and Vitas-M Laboratory Ltd, based in Moscow, Russia, have joined forces to design and market the next generation of fragment-based drug discovery libraries for early-stage drug discovery. The IOTA Pharmaceuticals - Vitas-M Laboratory collaboration couples IOTA Pharmaceuticals analysis and screening platforms to Vitas-M Laboratory's established chemical synthesis capabilities, to produce a new 4,000-component fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) screening set. This fragment set is being distributed by both companies immediately. Access to a diverse set of FBDD library compounds enables the rapid progression of new discovery programs from concept to optimised lead, as described in detail on the IOTA website. Dr David Bailey, heading IOTA, commented "Fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) is a fast, efficient and productive route to NCE discovery. Our combined technologies offer an extensive and reasonably-priced lead discovery tool kit for our pharma and biotech customers." Vitas-M Laboratory is a specialist organic chemistry company which synthesises drug compounds for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology screening markets. For more information about Vitas-M Laboratory, please visit www.vitasmlab.com . |
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| 21st December 2007 | | | New Fragment-based Drug Discovery Libraries announced in a commercial collaboration between IOTA Pharmaceuticals Ltd (Cambridge, UK) and Vitas-M Laboratory (Moscow, Russia)IOTA Pharmaceuticals Ltd, based in Cambridge, UK, and Vitas-M Laboratory Ltd, based in Moscow, Russia, have joined forces to design and market the next generation of fragment-based drug discovery libraries for early-stage drug discovery. The IOTA Pharmaceuticals - Vitas-M Laboratory collaboration couples IOTA Pharmaceuticals analysis and screening platforms to Vitas-M Laboratory's established chemical synthesis capabilities, to produce a new 4,000-component fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) screening set. This fragment set is being distributed by both companies immediately. Access to a diverse set of FBDD library compounds enables the rapid progression of new discovery programs from concept to optimised lead, as described in detail on the IOTA website. Dr David Bailey, heading IOTA, commented "Fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) is a fast, efficient and productive route to NCE discovery. Our combined technologies offer an extensive and reasonably-priced lead discovery tool kit for our pharma and biotech customers." Vitas-M Laboratory is a specialist organic chemistry company which synthesises drug compounds for the pharmaceutical and biotechnology screening markets. For more information about Vitas-M Laboratory, please visit www.vitasmlab.com . |
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| 25th September 2007 | | | | IOTA Pharmaceuticals, a new Fragment-based Drug Discovery company, established with research centres in Cambridge (UK), Amsterdam (The Netherlands) , and Ahmedabad (India). | | | | Centered on fragment-based drug design, IOTA offers pharmaceutical clients a range of new tools and technologies for drug discovery and lead optimization. IOTA's founder investors are experienced pharmaceutical discovery scientists. Dr Paul England, head of IOTA's screening activities, led Smith-Kline's high-throughput screening operation and was one of the senior executives at the Californian biotechnology company Aurora Biosciences. Dr Sue Boyd, leading IOTA's computational chemistry, has worked in computational chemistry teams at Pfizer, Celltech and Scynexis. Dr Iwan de Esch, based at the VU University in Amsterdam, brings expertise in medicinal chemistry and structure- and fragment-based drug discovery. | | | | These scientists are backed by an experienced commercial team, led by Dr David Bailey, who previously headed up Pfizer's Molecular Sciences Department in Sandwich, UK, and Incyte Pharmaceuticals' European HQ in Cambridge. David is supported by Sunil and Prashant Shah, co-founders of several Cambridge and Far East start-ups, including Oxygen Healthcare, a chemistry company based in Gujarat, India. | | | | This experienced founding group is joined as an investor by the VU University, Amsterdam, a world-leading academic centre of excellence in the Health Sciences. Since its formation in the 1960s, research in the medicinal chemistry department at the VU has focused on the molecular aspects of pharmacology, drug design and chemical synthesis, developing state-of-the-art technologies to discover new chemical entities with potential in human healthcare. |
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| 25th September 2007 | | | | Fragment-based Drug Discovery Initiative announced between the VU University, Amsterdam and IOTA Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Cambridge, UK. | | | | IOTA Pharmaceuticals today announced an alliance in the area of fragment-based drug discovery with The VU University, Amsterdam. The VU-IOTA collaboration couples fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) to commercially important pharmaceutical targets, thereby enabling the rapid progression of therapeutic targets into new discovery programs. Using the proprietary blend of organic, medicinal and computational chemistry available within the two groups, the collaboration will focus on the development of new drug classes across a range of commercially important therapeutic targets. | | | | The VU University is a world-leading academic centre of excellence in medicinal chemistry. Established by Professors Wijbe Nauta and Henk Timmerman in the 1960's and led since 2000 by Professor Rob Leurs, the Department of Medicinal Chemistry focuses on the application of molecular pharmacology, computational design and chemical synthesis technologies to a range of therapeutically important targets, including the acetylcholine, histamine and chemokine receptors, joined more recently by the protein tyrosine kinases. The Design and Synthesis Group at VU, led by Dr Iwan de Esch, has developed a powerful FBDD platform, combining organic synthesis with structure-guided lead development. In 2006, the group joined forces with other VU scientists in the area of Drug Discovery to establish the VU Drug Discovery Center. | | | | IOTA Pharmaceuticals has been established to provide molecular design, ligand screening and drug discovery services to the pharmaceutical industry. It combines cutting edge drug discovery technologies from European centres of excellence such as VU with cost-effective medicinal chemistry sourced from leading laboratories in India. | | | | Dr Iwan de Esch, leader of the VU initiative, said "We are delighted to work with IOTA to expand our existing fragment-based drug discovery platform. This will be an excellent way to valorise our fundamental research in human health and disease." | | | | Dr David Bailey, leading the FBDD initiative at IOTA, commented "The VU University in Amsterdam is a European centre of excellence in medicinal chemistry, and is at the forefront of technology development in the FBDD area. Together, we will develop a new generation of discovery tools, applying them to emerging therapeutic targets alongside pharmaceutical company collaborators." |
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