Collaboration with C4X Discovery Holdings PLC

RNS Number : 6594M

e-Therapeutics plc

01 May 2018

 

e-Therapeutics PLC (ETX.L) announces collaboration with C4X Discovery Holdings PLC (C4X.L) to discover novel strategies for the treatment of Parkinson's disease

Leverages e-therapeutics' network-driven drug discovery (NDD) capabilities with C4XD's genomics technology to identify new cellular mechanisms that are important in the pathology of this debilitating disease

Oxford, May 1, 2018 - e-therapeutics plc (AIM: ETX, "e-therapeutics" or the "Company"), the network-driven computational drug discovery company, today announces that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with C4X Discovery Holdings PLC (C4X.L) ("C4XD") to combine its drug discovery platform with the latter's genomics capabilities. The collaboration will aim to identify novel intervention strategies that have potential in the treatment of Parkinson's disease ("PD"), a debilitating and progressive neurological disease where there remains a significant unmet medical need.

The collaboration is based on leveraging the power of e-therapeutics' proprietary Network-Driven Drug Discovery (NDD) platform with C4XD's Taxonomy3 technology, C4XD's innovative DNA-based target identification platform that utilises human genetic datasets to identify novel patient-specific targets.

Taxonomy3 has already identified 180 novel disease-associated genes for PD. Using these results, e-therapeutics will apply its pioneering NDD platform to derive new insights into the corresponding cellular mechanisms in order to understand their interplay and centrality in the pathology of the disease. It is hoped that this work will ultimately lead to the identification of new treatment strategies, molecular targets and ultimately, novel drugs.

There is currently no cure for Parkinson's disease, which is estimated to affect c.10 million people worldwide¹.

Results generated in the collaboration shall be jointly owned by e-therapeutics and C4XD. The financial terms of the agreement are undisclosed.

Ray Barlow, CEO of e-therapeutics, said: "We are delighted to be entering into this collaboration with C4XD, which has the ultimate ambition of discovering novel drugs for Parkinson's Disease, a debilitating and progressive condition where there remains a significant unmet medical need for truly effective treatments. In addition to validating our Network-Driven Drug Discovery (NDD) approach in multiple, diverse areas of biology, we have also been working on genome-based functionality of our NDD platform, in a number of areas including triple negative breast cancer.

Our NDD platform is a unique approach that interrogates complex biology in a fundamentally different way. Our aim is to use the genomic associations that C4XD's Taxonomy3 technology platform has uncovered, to create new therapeutic approaches to treat this devastating disease.

There is potentially an exciting technological synergy between our approaches and we are looking forward to combining our expertise and working together."

¹European Parkinson's Disease Association.

For more information, please contact:

e-therapeutics plc Ray Barlow, Chief Executive Officer Steve Medlicott, Finance Director	Tel: [phone] www.etherapeutics.co.uk
Numis Securities Limited Michael Meade / Freddie Barnfield (Nominated Adviser) James Black (Corporate Broking)	Tel: [phone] www.numis.com
FTI Consulting Simon Conway/Brett Pollard	Tel: [phone] [e-mail]

About e-Therapeutics

We are an Oxford, UK-based company with a unique and powerful computer-based drug discovery platform and a specialised approach to network biology. 

Our novel network-driven methodology allows us to discover new and better drugs in a more efficient and effective way. 

We use our highly productive drug Discovery Engine to develop our own IP-protected, preclinical drug discovery programmes which will be of interest to partners looking to acquire or in-license novel and differentiated assets. We are currently developing two programmes in immuno-oncology and have a number of partner-ready projects in areas such as fibrosis and tumour microenvironment.

Because of our novel network-driven drug (NDD) discovery approach, we believe there is potential to enter into several different types of collaborative partnerships with biotech, pharma and other technology companies to create sustainable mutual value.

About Network-Driven Drug Discovery (NDD)

e-Therapeutics' proprietary NDD platform comprises a suite of powerful computational tools to augment and interrogate the vast amount of biological information currently available in both public and private databases.

Our NDD platform is founded on sophisticated network science and employs techniques such as machine learning, artificial intelligence and state-of-the-art data analysis tools. Using our biological expertise, we can create and analyse network models of disease to identify likely proteins that could effectively be disrupted to treat the disease. 

We believe that our network-driven approach more realistically reflects the true complexity of disease, with its multiple and often interconnected cellular pathways. By modelling and analysing disease networks and considering the pattern of connections between proteins, and not just single pathways, we more efficiently select the very best drug-like compounds for screening and for subsequent medicinal chemistry and pre-clinical testing. With our novel methodology, significant numbers of active molecules can be identified and tested quickly. Our approach is highly productive and consistently generates hits that have been progressed into potent, selective and novel drug molecules.

Our overall aim is to discover more efficacious drugs more effectively. By using more biologically realistic, cell and tissue-based assays we can choose and design compounds that are more likely to translate into better, more clinically efficacious drugs.

About C4X Discovery

C4X Discovery aims to become the world's most productive drug discovery engine by exploiting cutting edge technologies to design and create best-in-class small-molecule candidates targeting a range of high value therapeutic areas. The company's goal is to drive returns through early-stage revenue-generating deals with the pharmaceutical industry.

C4X Discovery has a state-of-the-art suite of proprietary technologies across the drug discovery process. The company's innovative DNA-based target identification platform (Taxonomy3®) utilises human genetic datasets to identify novel patient-specific targets leading to greater discovery productivity and increased probability of clinical success. This is complemented by C4XD's novel drug design platform which comprises two innovative chemistry technologies, Conformetrix and Molplex, that combine 4D molecular shape analyses (based on experimental data) with best-in-class computational chemistry. This provides new and unprecedented insight into the behaviour of drug molecules, enabling the production of potent selective compounds faster and more cost effectively than the industry standard.

C4X Discovery is advancing its in-house pipeline in inflammation, neurodegeneration, immuno-oncology, addiction, and diabetes with a number of new drug candidates identified and further progress made towards the pre-clinical licensing discussions. In selecting new targets C4X Discovery will focus on the high-value disease areas and will continue to maximise value from opportunistic areas, for example, immuno-oncology, addiction, and diabetes.

The Company was founded as a spin-out from the University of Manchester. It has a highly experienced management team and Board who have delivered significant value creation within the healthcare sector historically and have enabled C4XD to reach multiple value inflexion points since IPO. For additional information please go to: www.c4xdiscovery.com

 

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