French pharma company Servier and biopharma company Oncodesign have reach the first milestone in their collaboration on research and development into new drug candidates for Parkinson’s disease.
In a joint announcement made on Monday, Servier and Oncodesign announced a “first important milestone” had been reach in the programme.
Although the companies did not disclose the exact details, they said that the “next steps which are subject to further milestone payments will validate the Nanocyclix platform to have the potential to deliver small molecule drugs as therapeutics against Parkinson’s Disease”.
The two companies entered a strategic agreement back in March 2019, to research and develop therapeutic agents involving the LRRK2 kinase inhibitors derived from Oncodesign’s Nanocyclix platform.
Mutations in the LRRK2 gene are associated with the highest risk of familial Parkinson’s disease, with increased levels of LRRK2 also observed in patients with no known history of other family members with the disease.
Oncodesign’s Nanocyclix platform uses a macrocyclisation chemical methodology to generate kinase inhibitor candidates “based on shape complementarity in the ATP binding site” of kinase enzymes.
This method allows for the creation of very selective inhibitors, which do not cross react with other kinases even if they are structurally very similar.
As a result of hitting the first milestone of the programme, Oncodesign receives a success payment of €1m. According to a statement, Oncodesign could be eligible to receive up to €320m in milestone payments, excluding royalties, over the duration of its partnership with Servier.
“After the selection a few weeks ago of our first candidate drug inhibitor of RIPK2, this is good news coming from our strategic collaboration with Servier. The collaboration works perfectly and both teams are up to the challenges,” said Philippe Genne, CEO and founder of Oncodesign.
Servier paid Oncodesign an initial €3m in funding for the research stage of the programme, and will pay a further €3m in annual funding for research activities related to the project.
As a result of Servier supplying the funding for the research and development in its entirety, the pharma company will gain an exclusive worldwide licensing option on the programme when a successful candidate comes through the R&D stage.
“We are very pleased with the rapid progress we have made together with Oncodesign in this collaborative programme, with a very efficient and dynamic joint team, and look forward to continuing success over the coming years to reach our common goal of bringing a new treatment for patients who suffer from the scourge of Parkinson’s disease,” said Christophe Thurieau, executive director, Servier Research Institute.