Servier and Scandicure enter into agreement to conduct research in the field of metabolic diseases - Servier och Scandicure ingår avtal om forskning inom metabola sjukdomar

Paris and Gothenburg, 3rd of April, 2018 – Servier, an independent international pharmaceutical company, and Scandicure, a Swedish spin-out of the University of Gothenburg, today announced the establishment of an agreement to exploit Scandicure’s innovation in the field of metabolic disease.

Scandicure, in collaboration with the IMI-funded European Lead Factory, has developed inhibitors of a novel biological target for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), type-2 diabetes and potentially other metabolic diseases.

Servier will continue research started by Scandicure and advance Scandicure’s novel compounds through preclinical development using Servier’s drug discovery capabilities and knowledge of the disease areas. Under the terms of the agreement, Servier shall provide Scandicure with an upfront payment, as well as pre-clinical and clinical milestones.

• “We have identified a new attractive target in metabolic diseases, and the European Lead Factory has provided an access to a high-quality compound library and a platform of expertise for high-throughput screening. This unique combination of a well-validated target with the high-quality output of the European Lead Factory has provided Scandicure with strong starting points for new and transformative treatments in NASH and related diseases,” stated Dr. Margit Mahlapuu, founder and CEO of Scandicure. “Servier with its deep and integrated capabilities throughout the entire pharmaceutical R&D chain, is an ideal partner for Scandicure in this development initiative.”

• “Our access to Scandicure’s target-knowledge and novel chemistry allows us to explore an important pathway in metabolic diseases. Our goal is to find effective treatments for patients who suffer from NASH, who are underserved by current therapies”, said Claude Bertrand, General Director of Research and Development at Servier. “This agreement illustrates Servier’s continued commitment to novel approaches to diseases where significant unmet medical needs still exist.”

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Paris och Göteborg, 3 april 2018 - Servier, ett internationellt läkemedelsföretag och Scandicure, ett svenskt företag med ursprung från Göteborgs universitet, tillkännager idag att man har ingått ett avtal för att utveckla Scandicures innovation inom området metabola sjukdomar.

Scandicure har i samarbete med IMI-finansierade European Lead Factory utvecklat hämmare av ett nytt läkemedelsmål för icke-alkoholisk steatohepatitis (NASH), typ-2 diabetes och andra metaboliska sjukdomar.

Servier ska fortsätta att bedriva den forskning som har startats av Scandicure och Servier kommer att vidareutveckla Scandicures nya substans i preklinisk fas med den läkemedelsutvecklingskompetens och kunskap inom sjukdomsområdena, som Servier besitter. Enligt avtalet ska Servier tillhandahålla en förskottsbetalning till Scandicure samt betalningar vid uppnådda prekliniska och kliniska milstolpar.

• "Vi har identifierat ett nytt attraktivt läkemedelsmål för metabola sjukdomar, och European Lead Factory har bidragit med sitt högkvalitativa substansbibliotek och sin expertis inom s k high-throughput screening. Denna unika kombination av ett validerat läkemedelsmål tillsammans med högkvalitativ data från European Lead Factory har gett Scandicure en stark utgångspunkt för nya och transformativa behandlingar i NASH och liknande sjukdomar, säger Dr. Margit Mahlapuu, grundare och VD för Scandicure. "Servier med sin djupa och integrerade kapacitet över hela den farmaceutiska FoU-kedjan är en idealisk partner för Scandicure för att bedriva detta utvecklingsinitiativ."

• "Tillgång till Scandicures kunnande om denna mekanism och nya kemiska substanser gör att vi kan utforska ett viktigt spår inom metabola sjukdomar. Vår målsättning är att hitta effektiva behandlingar för patienter som lider av NASH, och som idag saknar effektiva behandlingsformer", säger Claude Bertrand, direktör för Forskning och Utveckling vid Servier. "Detta avtal illustrerar Serviers engagemang för att finna nya behandlingsformer för sjukdomar där betydande medicinska behov föreligger.”

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About Servier

Servier is an international pharmaceutical company governed by a non-profit foundation, with its headquarters in France (Suresnes). With a strong international presence in 148 countries and a turnover of 4.152 billion euros in 2017, Servier employs 21,600 people worldwide. Entirely independent, the Group reinvests 25% of its turnover (excluding generic drugs) in research and development and uses all its profits for development. Corporate growth is driven by Servier’s constant search for innovation in five areas of excellence: cardiovascular, immune-inflammatory and neuropsychiatric diseases, cancer and diabetes, as well as by its activities in high-quality generic drugs.

Servier has been involved in the research and development of innovative therapeutics against non-insulin diabetes (type II diabetes) for over 40 years. Currently gliclazide is one of the most prescribed oral treatments worldwide. Identifying new therapeutic targets in this field is Servier’s priority, as well as research of specific therapeutic solutions to diabetes-linked complications such as diabetic nephropathy or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

More information: www.servier.com.

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Press contacts:

Sonia MARQUES : media@servier.com – Tel. +33 (0)1 55 72 40 21 / + 33 (0) 7 84 28 76 13
Karine BOUSSEAU: media@servier.com – Tel. +33 (0)1 55 72 60 37

About Scandicure AB

Scandicure AB is an entrepreneurial company spun out of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Together with IMI’s European Lead Factory, the company has identified novel inhibitors of a target which may be able to reverse the metabolic complications in type-2-diabetes and metabolic liver disease NASH.

The company is owned by its founder, Dr Margit Mahlapuu, and the top ranked incubator and investor GU Ventures AB, which is wholly owned by the Swedish state. Scandicure serves as a holding company for intellectual property rights.

Press contact:

Dr. Lorna FLETCHER: lorna.fletcher@ventures.gu.se – Tel. +46 (0)73 416 70 84 

About the European Lead Factory

The European Lead Factory is a unique, collaborative platform for early drug discovery. It offers unrivalled opportunities to any European academic or SME working in any therapeutic area for the discovery of new diagnostic or drug lead molecules; compounds that can result in the development of novel treatment options for patients. To this end, the European Lead Factory provides a high-quality compound library, industry-standard screening facilities and drug discovery expertise. The European Lead Factory has received support from the Innovative Medicines Initiative Joint Undertaking (IMI-JU) and EFPIA companies’ in kind contribution.

More information: www.europeanleadfactory.eu.

Press contact:

Dr. Kristina ORRLING: kristina.orrling@lygature.org

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About GU Ventures

GU Ventures AB is fully owned by the Swedish government and is managed since 1998 by the University of Gothenburg. The mission is to commercialise ideas in connection to the operations at the University of Gothenburg and to deliver economic and social benefits. To ensure this, GU Ventures builds and invests its own funds in new businesses, which are actively supported in the GU Ventures incubator that provides business development and administrative support. With over 140 new businesses established, that have lead to 30 exits and 11 IPOs already for GU Ventures, UBI Global Index has top ranked GU Ventures for its incubation and investment operations. Please visit: www.guventures.com