Deutsche Effecten- und Wechsel-Beteiligungsges. AG
EANS-News: DEWB Investment Holding NOXXON Pharma AG Achieves Milestone in Partnership with Eli Lilly and Company
Jena/Berlin, Germany, December 3, 2009 (euro adhoc) -
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Company Information
NOXXON Pharma AG (NOXXON), the biopharmaceutical company focusing on the development of novel medicines based on its unique proprietary Spiegelmer® technology, announced today the achievement of an important milestone in its drug discovery and development partnership with Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY). NOXXON´s successful identification of a Spiegelmer® with picomolar affinity and high selectivity for its target met contractually specified milestone criteria and triggers a payment of an undisclosed amount. Lilly and NOXXON entered into the agreement last year to discover and develop Spiegelmers® for the treatment of migraine.
NOXXON´s Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Sven Klussmann, commented: "The rapid delivery of what appears to be an immensely potent compound illustrates the power of the Spiegelmer® platform and represents the first major landmark in our partnership. We now look forward to Lilly applying its substantial expertise in the field of migraine in taking the Spiegelmer® to the next level."
William Chin, M.D., vice president of discovery and clinical research at Lilly, added: "NOXXON´s identification of the lead compound is an outstanding milestone achievement. The use of Spiegelmers® for the potential treatment of migraine headache is a novel and promising approach. We are excited to continue our work with NOXXON to bring Spiegelmers® to our patients as soon as possible." Following the completion of the discovery work, the identified Spiegelmer® will undergo pharmacological testing and pre-clinical development. Lilly is responsible for the pre-clinical and clinical development as well as the commercialization of the Spiegelmer® product, provided the product is approved by regulatory authorities.
About Spiegelmers® Spiegelmers® (L-aptamers) are chemical entities based on synthetic mirror-image oligonucleotides which are highly selective for their pharmacological target and potent inhibitors of target function. They combine the benefits of small molecule drugs and biopharmaceuticals. Due to their unique mirror image configuration Spiegelmers® are not metabolized and do not hybridize with native nucleic acids. Unlike conventional nucleic acids, Spiegelmers® do not activate the innate immune response via toll-like receptors and they showed an exceptionally favorable immunogenicity profile in pre-clinical testing.
About NOXXON Berlin-based NOXXON Pharma AG is a clinical stage biotechnology company focusing on the development of Spiegelmers® for the treatment of inflammatory diseases and hematological indications. NOXXON is in possession of a broad patent estate and has access to a readily scalable GMP production. In addition to its in-house programs, NOXXON discovers and develops Spiegelmers® in collaboration with partners from the pharmaceutical industry, including Lilly, Hoffmann La-Roche, and Pfizer. The business strategy of NOXXON is to broaden this range of collaborations through co-development and licensing agreements for the proprietary clinical and pre-clinical products as well as technology-based multi-target partnerships. Currently the company has two compounds in clinical development. The declared goal of NOXXON is to establish its oligonucleotide-based drug discovery platform (Spiegelmers®) as the leading 'scaffold' technology to create new chemical entities with superior properties. NOXXON´s investors are TVM Capital, Sofinnova Partners, Edmond de Rothschild Investment Partners, Deutsche Effecten- und Wechsel-Beteiligungsgesellschaft (DEWB), Seventure Partners, Dow Venture Capital, Dieckell Group, FCP OP MEDICAL BioHealth-Trends, IBG Risikokapitalfonds, VC Fonds Berlin, and others.
Website: http://www.noxxon.com
General contact: Emmanuelle Delabre NOXXON Pharma AG Max-Dohrn-Strasse 8-10 10589 Berlin, Germany Phone: + 49-30-726247-100 FAX: + 49-30-726247-225 Email: edelabre@noxxon.com
end of announcement euro adhoc
Further inquiry note:
Marco Scheidler
Tel.: +49 (0) 3641 573-3600
E-Mail: marco.scheidler@dewb-vc.com
Branche: Financial & Business Services
ISIN: DE0008041005
WKN: 804100
Index: CDAX, Classic All Share, Prime All Share
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