New biotech alliance to focus on diseases of nerve injury and pain

Aug 11 2004

NeuroTargets Ltd, a discovery-led biotechnology company ‘spun-out’ from the University of Bristol, has formed an exciting new alliance with BioFocus plc, a world leader in collaborative drug discovery, to focus on diseases of nerve injury and pain.

NeuroTargets was founded in 1999 by ANGLE plc to commercialise the research of Professor David Wynick at Bristol University. The company discovers and develops new drugs for neurological diseases. It has developed a highly efficient, patented technology for discovering novel and rarely expressed genes, which are associated with neuropathy, such as diabetic neuropathy, and neuropathic pain. It has also validated a number of promising drug targets, including the second galanin receptor sub-type, and a chemokine receptor.

Under the terms of this agreement, BioFocus and NeuroTargets will apply their complementary expertise to co-develop lead compounds and drug candidates that bind to a specific receptor involved in nerve repair. It is anticipated that candidates with proven safety and efficacy will be licensed to pharmaceutical companies for late stage clinical development and commercialisation.

This new partnership combines NeuroTargets’ leading expertise in target validation and product screening with BioFocus’s proven capability in early stage drug discovery.

Professor David Wynick, founder and CSO of NeuroTargets said: “We are extremely pleased to be working with BioFocus because of their proven ability to identify quality candidates from validated targets. This alliance represents a significant step forward in NeuroTargets’ strategic move from a genomics-based company to one that develops novel therapeutic products for disorders related to nerve injury. ”

Geoff McMillan, BioFocus’s Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted to establish a relationship with NeuroTargets, a specialist provider of drug development expertise. This collaboration highlights BioFocus’s intent to identify and exploit its core capabilities in GPCR drug discovery by augmenting our established pipeline and increasing downstream value through strategic partnership.”