Argenta Discovery Announces Collaboration with US Pharmaceutical Company Corcept TherapeuticsAlliance to create optimised candidate for potential treatments within the field of mental illnessHarlow (UK) 07 May 2003 - Argenta Discovery Ltd today announced that it has entered into a comprehensive, multi-year collaboration with Corcept Therapeutics (Palo Alto, CA) for the discovery and optimisation of a second generation drug candidate within one of Corcept’s psychiatric disorder programmes. Financial details were not disclosed. Under the terms of the collaboration, Argenta and Corcept scientists will work closely together in an interdisciplinary team to fully exploit the integration of biology and chemistry. Commenting on the agreement, Dr Joseph Belanoff, CEO and co-founder of Corcept, said, “We are thrilled to begin our collaboration with Argenta. Argenta is an absolutely first-rate drug discovery house and with their help we look forward to finding compounds that will ultimately improve the lives of patients suffering from severe psychiatric illnesses.” Dr Anthony Baxter, Chief Executive Officer of Argenta, added, “We are very pleased to announce this alliance with Corcept, a further US deal for Argenta which illustrates the global attraction of our contract services. This collaboration enables Argenta to deploy its full armoury of capabilities in chemistry, screening and eADME in an integrated approach to lead discovery and optimisation. We believe this agreement also highlights the value companies are increasingly placing on genuine industry experience in both management and scientists when choosing a partner in drug discovery.” Argenta Discovery Ltd has a US subsidiary, Argenta Discovery, Inc., which is headquartered in Boston, MA, and has a commercial office in Santa Fe, NM. Notes to Editors:About Argenta Discovery Ltd Argenta Discovery is an independent discovery company providing peer quality contract services in medicinal chemistry and biochemistry to pharmaceutical companies of all sizes. Argenta draws on its industry experienced scientists to deliver rapid hit finding capabilities together with the ability to convert and optimise hits and leads into validated, patentable chemical lead series and potential drug candidates. The company has previously worked with or is currently working with Aventis, Pharmagene, Millennium, Adolor, De Novo, GlaxoSmithKline, Lundbeck, Amedis and other undisclosed partners. Argenta also actively works on its own research projects and can source targets via a unique relationship with London’s Imperial College School of Medicine (Europe’s largest medical school). Patentable lead series resulting from in-house programmes will be available for sale or licence. Argenta operates in new, state of the art laboratories in Harlow, UK, and is served by nearby London Stansted Airport. The company also has a US subsidiary, Argenta Discovery, Inc., and a commercial representation in Japan, reflecting its global client base. Its scientific skills include computer-aided drug design, medicinal, parallel and combinatorial chemistry, high throughput analytical chemistry, molecular biology, biochemical assay development, automated molecular and cellular screening and in vitro ADMET screening. For further information please see www.argentadiscovery.com or email info@argentadiscovery.com About Corcept Therapeutics, Inc. Corcept Therapeutics, Inc. is a development stage pharmaceutical company located in Menlo Park, California. It is engaged in the discovery, development and commercialization of pharmaceutical products for the treatment of psychotic major depression and other severe neuropsychiatric disorders. For further information, please contact:Argenta Discovery Ltd Argenta Discovery, Inc. HCC De Facto Group |
Argenta Discovery Limited is a company incorporated and registered in England with registered number 3671653 whose registered office and principal place of business is at 8/9 Spire Green Centre, Flex Meadow, Harlow, CM19 5TR, United Kingdom and whose VAT registration number is GB 848 2268 02.