Pierre Fabre, Addex Sign Early-Stage CNS Agreement

Addex Therapeutics, a company involved in allosteric modulation-based drug discovery and development, has granted an option to license its metabotropic glutamate receptor subtype 3 (mGlu3 receptor) program to Pierre Fabre Pharmaceuticals, a laboratory with a track-record in discovering, developing and marketing products in the field of central nervous system (CNS).

“This agreement confirms our strong and continued interest in the CNS field to develop therapies addressing critical global health problems,” said Laurent Audoly, head of Pierre Fabre Pharmaceuticals R&D. “Pierre Fabre is committed to developing such early stage collaborations to capitalize on its long-standing preclinical and clinical experience in the CNS field to create value and win-win scenarios with our partners.”

“We are delighted to be working with Pierre Fabre and their CNS discovery group which has a strong track record in CNS drug discovery,” said Robert Lütjens, head of discovery, Addex. “mGlu3 receptor represents an exciting novel target and we look forward to rapidly advancing this program.”

“This agreement represents a strong validation of our discovery platform and highlights the value of Addex’ proprietary expertise in allosteric modulator drug discovery,” said Tim Dyer, chief executive officer, Addex. “This agreement is another example of our strategy to advance our preclinical programs through collaboration with industry.”

Using its proprietary allosteric modulator discovery platform, Addex has been able to identify unique mGlu3 receptor positive and negative allosteric modulators. These compounds, although still at an early stage, represent excellent starting points for chemical optimization, and have a great potential to become first-in-class molecules useful for the treatment of CNS disorders involving an imbalance in mGlu3 receptor signalling. Under the terms of the agreement, Pierre Fabre will conduct chemistry, pharmacology and ADME, while Addex will support the project with its proprietary in vitro pharmacological assay platform.