Vect-Horus, AAA form scientific collaboration to open new avenues in treatment of brain diseases

Nov 20 2013

The partnership will develop new molecules for the treatment of brain diseases

Vect-Horus, a French company specialized in the development of vector molecules for the central nervous system, announces today it has signed a scientific collaboration agreement with Advanced Accelerator Applications (AAA), a fast growing international player in Molecular Nuclear Medicine (MNM). The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.

This agreement is part of Vect-Horus’ strategy to leverage its technological platform by entering into research and product development agreements with pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies to generate patentable new chemical entities (NCEs) based on its partner’s drug or imaging candidates.

“We are proud to have signed this agreement with a European leader in Molecular Nuclear Medicine,” said Alexandre Tokay, co-founder of Vect-Horus. “We believe that this scientific collaboration will be fruitful for both parties and open new avenues in the treatment of brain diseases.”

"We find Vect-Horus’ technology very interesting and see real potential in Molecular Nuclear Diagnostics," said Stefano Buono, CEO of AAA.

Vect-Horus is specialized in the development of vector molecules that allow delivery of therapeutic and imaging molecules in different organs and cell types, in particular in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). Indeed, the brain vascular system, known as the blood brain barrier (BBB), considerably restricts the delivery of drugs and imaging agents from blood to nervous tissue. The BBB is largely responsible for the high attrition rate of the pharmaceutical industry in the CNS therapeutic area.

Vect-Horus’ innovative vector technology is dedicated to unleashing the technological locks of the BBB to allow the treatment of CNS pathologies, where major medical needs still remain. This is the second largest therapeutic area in terms of sales turnover in the pharmaceutical market. 

Vect-Horus bases its scientific strategy on the principle that the BBB is not only a physical barrier that one needs to cross to deliver drugs to the CNS, but, most importantly, a functional barrier whose transport mechanisms can be used advantageously for drug delivery. The vector molecules developed by Vect-Horus use these endogenous transport mechanisms across the BBB to deliver drugs or imaging agents into the diseased brain.