ONCODESIGN Achieves UCB Milestone

ONCODESIGN has reached a major milestone in its joint discovery collaboration with UCB relating to its Nanocyclix technology on a kinase target selected by UCB. The collaboration, dating back to October 2013, aims to develop therapies to treat neurological disorders. UCB will now obtain worldwide development and commercialization rights to the compounds. Oncodesign is eligible to receive further research funding, product-related development, regulatory and commercial milestones, as well as royalties.
 
Nanocyclix is a medicinal chemistry technology based on small molecule macrocyclisation that provides solutions to accessing potent and highly selective kinase inhibitors that can readily cross the Blood-Brain-Barrier.
 
“In just over a year, the progress achieved in our early research collaboration has convinced UCB to take a full license on the program and enter into an additional multi-year research program. We are very excited to continue our partnership. Identifying inhibitors that are potent and selective – to avoid side effects for the intended chronic use – and that readily enter into the brain after oral application have been major challenges for many years in kinase research. The current license exercised by UCB further validates Nanocyclix as a “next generation” kinase inhibitor technology that allows to tackle kinases in notoriously difficult fields,” said Jan Hoflack, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of Oncodesign.
 
“Our collaboration with Oncodesign so far has been extremely positive, and this agreement was the natural next step,” said Neil Weir, UCB’s head of Discovery Research. “Our discovery teams really look forward to working with Oncodesign even more closely in the coming months. Oncodesign’s strong experience and expertise in kinase inhibitor research will undoubtedly help deepen our understanding in this crucial area and bring value to people suffering from severe neurological diseases.”