Almac Discovery and Argenta Discovery Announce Contract Drug Discovery Collaboration in Cancer
11 February 2009
Almac Discovery, an independent member of the Almac Group focused on the discovery and development of novel and innovative approaches to the treatment of cancer and associated conditions, and Argenta Discovery, the contract research and respiratory R&D company, today announced that they have entered into an important fee-for-service collaboration. Under the terms of the agreement, scientists from the two companies will work together to advance one of Almac’s portfolio of high-value cancer programmes from hit identification to development candidate. Argenta will provide computational chemistry and medicinal chemistry services and know-how, and Almac will contribute medicinal chemistry, biochemistry and in vitro screening capabilities and expertise.
Commenting on the agreement, Dr Timothy Harrison, vice president of discovery chemistry at Almac Discovery said, "We are looking forward to working with Argenta on this drug discovery programme which forms a significant component of our effort to develop novel therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. Argenta is well-known and respected within the pharmaceutical industry for its high-quality medicinal chemistry-driven services and was therefore a natural choice as a partner to support our discovery activities. Cancer remains the second highest cause of death in developed countries, accounting for 7.6 million (or 13%) of all mortalities annually world-wide, and this figure is forecast to increase to 9 million deaths by 2015. For this reason, it has become increasingly important to discover and develop novel and effective cancer treatments.”
Dr Christopher Ashton, Argenta Discovery’s CEO, said, “We are pleased that Almac has chosen to collaborate with Argenta on this challenging project. Almac’s decision to work with us further validates our contract research team’s considerable experience in oncology-focused drug discovery and underlines Argenta’s on-going commitment to providing a premium contract drug discovery service. During these challenging times, companies carrying out pharmaceutical R&D require, more than ever, a trusted strategic partner with significant industry experience to relieve the bottleneck in drug discovery, and Argenta Discovery is that partner. We look forward to building a long-term scientific and business relationship with Almac Discovery.”
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the agreement provides options to expand the relationship.
