Essen BioScience, Nycomed partner to develop modulators of voltage-gated ion channels

​Essen Bioscience is a Sartorius brand.

Essen BioScience Inc. - a specialty provider of cell-based assay solutions and contract research services - and Nycomed - a privately owned global pharmaceutical company headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland - are pleased to announce a joint discovery agreement to identify novel small molecule ion channel modulators as pain therapeutics.

“We are delighted to forge this partnership with Nycomed. The milestone driven aspect of this collaboration recognizes our team's experience in ion channel drug discovery as well as ion channel technology. To bring this experience in partnership with Nycomed's broader discovery and development capability is exciting.”

Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will collaborate to screen, optimize and develop modulators of voltage-gated ion channels. Essen BioScience will provide core expertise in ion channel drug discovery, planar array electrophysiology and in vitro profiling. Nycomed will contribute capabilities in medicinal chemistry, drug discovery and development.

Kirk Schroeder, President of Essen BioScience, commented: "We are delighted to forge this partnership with Nycomed. The milestone driven aspect of this collaboration recognizes our team's experience in ion channel drug discovery as well as ion channel technology. To bring this experience in partnership with Nycomed's broader discovery and development capability is exciting."

Sham Nikam, Head Global Discovery at Nycomed, added: "This collaboration with Essen BioScience is a real win-win situation. It significantly strengthens Nycomed's development pipeline and further underlines our strategy to build on partnerships to develop new innovative products."

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.