Beactica, VIB and CD3 announce drug discovery alliance targeting inflammatory diseases

Beactica AB, the Swedish drug discovery company, today announced a new partnership with VIB and KU Leuven’s Centre for Drug Design and Discovery (CD3). The three parties will be working together in a drug discovery project to address critical unmet needs in the area of inflammation. The partnership goal is to generate new leads against an innovative target for a range of inflammatory conditions.

The collaboration will leverage core capabilities of each partner and builds on the work of Prof. Dr Savvas Savvides (VIB-UGent), whose major research focus concerns macromolecular signalling complexes pivotal to inflammation. The alliance will use Beactica’s proprietary drug discovery platform that enables the identification of novel small molecule modulators against challenging target proteins. CD3’s drug discovery capabilities, including its medicinal chemistry resources and expertise, will be driving the optimisation of small molecule modulators towards new medicines. VIB Discovery Sciences will focus on the translational research needed to deliver validated candidates for small molecule therapeutics. The terms of the collaboration have not been disclosed.

"We are delighted to be entering into this new collaboration with CD3 and VIB, who have done pioneering work on important inflammation targets,” said Per Källblad, CEO of Beactica. “Our discovery portfolio concentrates on areas where there is an urgent need for high quality leads with potential for rapid progression into development. Collaborating with world-leading academic groups and drug discovery centres provides an efficient and flexible way to add value to the company.”

Jérôme Van Biervliet, Head of Business Development and VIB Discovery Sciences at VIB: “We are delighted to partner with Beactica and CD3 on this exciting project, based on the work of the lab of Savvas Savvides (VIB-UGent). Starting from the innovative science from our VIB scientists, we can leverage the expertise of our drug discovery team at VIB Discovery Sciences. In this collaboration, we can foster the optimal transition from academic science into development of innovative products.”

”By providing drug discovery expertise and resources, CD3 translates fundamental biomedical research carried out by universities and small biotech companies into promising molecules for new medicines”, said Patrick Chaltin, Managing Director at CD3. “We really look forward to work with Beactica and VIB to discover new molecules that can change the way inflammatory conditions are treated.”

About Beactica

Beactica AB is a specialist drug discovery company, utilising its proprietary methodologies to evaluate the interactions of molecules in order to generate novel therapeutics. As well as progressing its own drug discovery programmes in areas of unmet medical need, Beactica offers partnerships for fragment-based lead generation using its proprietary discovery platform. Founded in 2006 based on research carried out at Uppsala University, Beactica has established a reputation as a world-leader in fragment-based drug discovery using SPR biosensor technology. For more information on Beactica, please visit www.beactica.com.

About VIB

VIB is a strategic research institute in life sciences based in Flanders, Belgium. VIB’s technology transfer team proactively translates new biological findings into new economic activities, such as starting up new companies and partnerships with the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. VIB Discovery Sciences consists of a team of senior industry-trained technical scientists with significant expertise in drug discovery biology and a comprehensive technology infrastructure. The team is fully embedded in the technology transfer unit of VIB and is engaged heavily in the design and execution of valorisation-driven drug / ag-bio discovery projects. VIB is funded by the Flemish government and has a close partnership with five Flemish universities – Ghent University, KU Leuven, University of Antwerp, Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Hasselt University. More information: www.vib.be.

About the Centre for Drug Design and Discovery – KU Leuven

The Centre for Drug Design and Discovery (CD3) is a drug discovery platform and investment fund with a focus on the discovery and development of innovative medicines mainly starting from innovative academic research. By providing the necessary drug discovery expertise and financial resources, CD3 ensures that biomedical research carried out by universities and small biotech companies is collaboratively translated into promising new medicines. Subsequently, such new potential medicines can then be further developed by pharma or biotech industry or can form the basis for the establishment of new biotechs. CD3 was set up in 2006 by KU Leuven Research & Development and the European Investment Fund (EIF) and launched a 60 million euro fund in 2016. For more information: www.cd3.eu.

More News