Novel Class of Natural Products to be Developed as Anti-Cancer Therapeutics
Ascenion mediates licence agreement between GBF and Zentaris
Ascenion GmbH has mediated a licence agreement between the German Research Centre for biotechnology mbH (GBF) and Zentaris GmbH, German subsidiary of listed Æterna Zentaris Inc.
The licence grants Zentaris exclusive worldwide rights for the development, manufacture and marketing of disorazoles, a novel class of natural products with strong anti-cancer potential discovered by GBF researchers. The agreement also provides Zentaris with access to GBF's know-how in the field of disorazoles and includes a licence to the strain of bacteria producing the product. The deal builds on an option Zentaris had already secured for the class of disorazoles in 2002.
Under the terms of the agreement, the GBF will obtain an upfront fee and annual licence fees from Zentaris as well as milestone and royalty payments in line with product progress and future commercialization.
In the course of the screening of soil bacteria, GBF researchers have discovered that disorazol is a powerful inhibitor of the tubulin system, with a similar mode of action to taxol and vinblastin, the active ingredients of some of the world's best selling anti-cancer drugs. Following the results of in-vitro studies recently published in the Journal of Biochemical Pharmacology1, disorazol shows remarkably high cytostatic activity. At extremely low doses, it inhibits the proliferation of a broad range of cancer cell lines including multidrug-resistant cells.
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