About Argenta Discovery

Collaborations

Argenta Discovery is pursuing two distinct types of collaboration: strategic alliances based on its in-house proprietary respiratory programmes and fee-for-service agreements with a broad range of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

Examples of ongoing strategic alliances:

• AstraZeneca
  A major discovery alliance to identify improved bronchodilators to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Under the terms of the agreement announced in January 2007, Argenta received a $21 million upfront payment plus further committed research funding and pre-clinical milestone payments. Teams of scientists from the two companies are collaborating to identify long acting muscarinic (M3) antagonists (LAMAs) and dual acting muscarinic antagonist-beta2 agonist (MABA) candidate drugs. In October 2007, the first development candidate was nominated, triggering a significant milestone payment.
  
  
• Domantis, Cambridge, UK
  Under the terms of the deal announced in October 2004, fully human domain antibodies (dAbs) identified in Domantis' proprietary discovery programmes are being co-developed to yield innovative inhaled therapies. In vivo efficacy of a human dAb was successfully demonstrated in a COPD model in October 2005. Both groups will share revenues derived from dAb-based products. Domantis is a subsidiary of GlaxoSmithKline.
  
  
• Dr. Reddy's, Hyderabad, India
  An agreement for the joint development and commercialization of a novel approach to the treatment of COPD. Under the terms of the agreement, Dr. Reddy's and Argenta are collaborating to identify clinical candidates from a certain class of Dr. Reddy's' compounds for use as potential treatments for COPD. Both the parties will jointly develop the selected candidates from the pre-clinical stage up to Phase IIa (proof-of-concept). In November 2007, the first candidate drug was nominated.

Examples of recent fee-for-service agreements:

• Almac Discovery (Craigavon, UK)
  Scientists from Argenta and Almac are working together to advance one of Almac's portfolio of high-value cancer programmes from hit identification to development candidate. Argenta will provide medicinal and computational chemistry services and know-how, and Almac will contribute medicinal chemistry, biochemistry and in vitro screening capabilities and expertise.
  
  
• Antisoma (London, UK)
  Argenta and Antisoma collaborated to develop improved anti-cancer telomere targeting agents.  During the project, Antisoma utilised Argenta’s expertise in medicinal and computational chemistry, molecular biology, biochemistry and in vitro screening.
  
  
• AstraZeneca (USA, Sweden and UK)
  As part of a four-year collaboration, Argenta provided discovery research capabilities to AstraZeneca. The most recent project involved Argenta scientists providing medicinal chemistry resource and know how to support drug discovery activities for AZ in Wilmington, DE.
  
  
• BioTie Therapies Corp. (Turku, Finland)
  During a lead optimisation collaboration, scientists from the two companies exploited Argenta's expertise in medicinal and computational chemistry to advance one of BioTie's novel therapeutics programmes towards development candidate nomination.
  
  
• CellCentric (Cambridge, UK)
  Under the terms of the agreement, scientists from the two companies are exploiting Argenta's expertise in virtual screening, molecular biology, biochemical assay development and in vitro screening to discover inhibitors for a number of potential epigenetic-related therapeutic targets.
  
  
• Genentech (South San Francisco, USA)
  In the course of six major drug discovery collaborations, scientists from Argenta and Genentech are applying their expertise in medicinal and computational chemistry, biochemistry and DMPK to discover NCEs acting against undisclosed drug targets..
  
  
• Novartis
  In a two-year drug discovery collaboration, an integrated team of Argenta and Novartis scientists worked on a programme that centred on the search for new diabetes therapies.
  
  
• Zafgen (Cambridge, USA)
  Scientists from the two companies are exploiting Argenta's expertise in medicinal and computational chemistry, biochemistry, in vitro screening, and DMPK to accelerate development candidate nomination for one of Zafgen's innovative therapeutics programmes for obesity.

Please click here for a summary of typical multidisciplinary projects that Argenta undertakes in hit identification, hit-to-lead and lead optimisation.