NeoGenesis and AstraZeneca enter collaboration to discover small molecules for certain human diseases

29-Mar-2004
Cambridge, Mass. NeoGenesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. recently announced they have signed a research and discovery collaboration agreement with AstraZeneca, a major international pharmaceutical company. This collaboration will focus on the discovery of small molecules aimed at certain human diseases, including oncologic, infection, cardiovascular, central nervous system (CNS) and inflammatory diseases. Under the terms of this agreement, NeoGenesis will use its unique drug discovery technologies, including its proprietary ALIS (Automated Ligand Identification System) platform, NeoMorph compound libraries and lead optimization technologies to discover drug candidates against selected targets. Henry Skinner, Ph.D., president and CEO of NeoGenesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., said, "We are very pleased that AstraZeneca recognizes the value brought to the drug discovery process by NeoGenesis' technologies and scientific talents and has chosen to partner with us on a number of their early-stage drug discovery projects. AstraZeneca, one of the top five pharmaceutical companies in the world, is well recognized for R&D innovation and the introduction of new, potentially life-saving medicines for patients throughout the world. We look forward to combining AstraZeneca's research and development resources with NeoGenesis' unique drug discovery capabilities in order to advance some of their critical research and discovery programs." "We are delighted to be able to apply NeoGenesis' industrialized process to discover and advance small molecule drug leads derived from their large and diverse compound collection using unbiased affinity selection. It will broaden the range of approaches that we use to discover the chemical starting points for the next generation of drugs," said John Stageman, Vice President, Enabling Science, Technology & Information, for AstraZeneca. "We are impressed with NeoGenesis' accomplishments and commitment to accelerating their partner's therapeutic discovery efforts." Under the terms of the agreement, NeoGenesis will receive research funding, payment for achieving research and development milestones, and royalties based on the successful commercialization of drug candidates.

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