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Dijon, France, May 27, 2020 – Oncodesign, a French biopharmaceutical company dedicated to precision medicine, announces that it has formed a new strategic alliance with HitGen, a Chinese biotech company. This partnership complements Oncodesign’s technological platforms and enables the identification of novel hits for challenging biological targets. It also strengthens its Integrated Drug Discovery Service (IDDS) offer, known as DRIVE™ (DRug Integrative discoVEry).
For several years, Oncodesign has been promoting and carrying out drug discovery programs – on behalf of third-party clients, with the aim of generating leads and preclinical candidates and, when necessary, to accompany the client up to the IND submission.
DRIVE™ is part of Oncodesign’s continuous commitment to improve its integrated drug discovery offer. It is a smart and agile solution that helps clients streamline their drug discovery and development programs to make the best use of resources and achieve optimum results. By covering the entire drug discovery value chain from hit finding to IND filing, DRIVE™ aims to accelerate the entry of new chemical entities into clinic within a three year time frame.
DRIVE™ encompasses all drug discovery skills, expertise and platforms to deliver drugs in major therapeutic areas including oncology, immuno-oncology, immuno-inflammation and inflammation. Oncodesign’s DRIVE offering has now been broadened and deepened by the strategic alliance with HitGen.
The two companies have built a joint value proposition where HitGen applies its powerful DNA Encoded Library (DEL) technology platform to identify tractable hits. It enables clients to leverage the benefits of HitGen’s technology platform and Oncodesign’s drug discovery expertise to generate robust leads faster and deliver high quality preclinical candidates.
DRIVE™ runs a multiparametric optimization mode, with streamlined and fast testing of newly synthesized compounds. By applying immediate processing, within a collaborative environment between medicinal chemists, in vitro/in vivo pharmacologists and DMPK specialists, Oncodesign helps reduce the iterative cycles of optimization to rapidly deliver preclinical candidates.
“As a result of this new alliance, Oncodesign’s clients will be able to leverage the benefits from both our drug discovery expertise and HitGen’s DEL technology platform in major therapeutic areas,” said Fabrice Viviani, senior executive vice president and chief of Oncodesign’s Service Business Unit. “We are confident that the quality of the starting hits generated by HitGen will impact the future likelihood of success of the preclinical candidates delivered by Oncodesign.”
In addition, Oncodesign will hold an interactive webinar with selected partners (HitGen, Iktos, 2Bind, Icaria) to describe how relevant DRIVE is to take on new drug discovery challenges. “DRIVE: Brothers in arms to support small molecule drug discovery from hit to IND” will take place on July 7, 2020, 11am-12pm EDT/5pm-6pm CEST.
About Oncodesign
Founded 25 years ago by Dr. Philippe Genne, the Company’s CEO and Chairman, Oncodesign is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to precision medicine. With its unique experience acquired by working with more than 800 clients, including the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, along with its comprehensive technological platform combining state-of-the-art medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, regulated bioanalysis, medical imaging and Artificial Intelligence, Oncodesign is able to predict and identify, at a very early stage, each molecule’s therapeutic usefulness and potential to become an effective drug. Applied to kinase inhibitors, which represent a market estimated at over $65 billion by 2027 and accounting for almost 25% of the pharmaceutical industry’s R&D expenditure, Oncodesign’s technology has already enabled the targeting of several promising molecules with substantial therapeutic potential, in oncology and elsewhere, along with partnerships with pharmaceutical groups such as Bristol-Myers Squibb. Oncodesign is based in Dijon, France, in the heart of the town’s university and hospital hub, and within the Paris-Saclay cluster. Oncodesign has 233 employees and subsidiaries in Canada and the US.