Ligand Announces an Expansion of Vernalis Collaboration with Servier for Research on Novel Oncology Targets
June 15 2020 - 08:30AM
Business Wire
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ: LGND)
announces that Vernalis Research, a Ligand company, has expanded
its oncology research collaboration with Servier, an international
pharmaceutical company based in France, to jointly identify and
enable new therapeutic targets.
The new three-year research collaboration combines Vernalis’
strengths in structure and biophysics-based methods as part of the
Vernalis Design Platform (VDP) with the oncology expertise at
Servier to enable drug discovery related to several undisclosed
proteins identified as potential therapeutic targets. The agreement
builds on the successful collaboration between the two companies
that has led to the discovery of a number of compounds currently in
clinical trials.
Vernalis will receive research and success fees, along with
potential for milestone payments, and royalties on sales of any
target advanced by Servier. Financial terms of the agreement were
not disclosed.
“This new collaboration further validates our fragment and
structure-based drug discovery platform, as well as the strength
and success of our relationship with Servier. We look forward to
working together to develop exciting new cancer treatment
opportunities that may add to the successes we’ve had in targeting
Bcl-2 and Mcl-1,” commented Mike Wood, Managing Director of
Vernalis.
“We are extremely pleased with the progress we have made in
partnership with Vernalis. This new research collaboration provides
the framework to establish drug discovery against a number of
therapeutic targets and further contribute to addressing important
unmet needs of cancer patients,” added Olivier Geneste, Director of
Oncology Research at Servier.
About Vernalis Research
Based in Cambridge, UK, Vernalis Research is a world leader in
fragment and structure-guided drug discovery. The Vernalis Design
Platform (VDP) integrates protein structure determination and
engineering, fragment screening and molecular modeling with
medicinal chemistry to enable success in novel drug discovery
programs against highly-challenging targets. A key element to the
success of VDP is establishing a robust drug discovery platform for
each target to validate hit identification using multiple
proprietary assay and biophysical systems. Vernalis Research has
collaborations across multiple therapeutic areas including
oncology, CNS, anti-infectives and inflammation, with global
partners and a heritage of successful internal drug discovery in
oncology and anti-infectives.
About Ligand Pharmaceuticals
Ligand is a revenue-generating biopharmaceutical company focused
on developing or acquiring technologies that help pharmaceutical
companies discover and develop medicines. Our business model
creates value for stockholders by providing a diversified portfolio
of biotech and pharmaceutical product revenue streams that are
supported by an efficient and low corporate cost structure. Our
goal is to offer investors an opportunity to participate in the
promise of the biotech industry in a profitable, diversified and
lower-risk business than a typical biotech company. Our business
model is based on doing what we do best: drug discovery,
early-stage drug development, product reformulation and partnering.
We partner with other pharmaceutical companies to leverage what
they do best (late-stage development, regulatory management and
commercialization) to ultimately generate our revenue. Ligand’s
OmniAb® technology platform is a patent-protected transgenic animal
platform used in the discovery of fully human mono- and bispecific
therapeutic antibodies. The Captisol platform technology is a
patent-protected, chemically modified cyclodextrin with a structure
designed to optimize the solubility and stability of drugs. The
Vernalis Design Platform (VDP) integrates protein structure
determination and engineering, fragment screening and molecular
modeling, with medicinal chemistry, to help enable success in novel
drug discovery programs against highly-challenging targets. Ab
Initio™ technology and services for the design and preparation of
customized antigens enable the successful discovery of therapeutic
antibodies against difficult-to-access cellular targets. Ligand has
established multiple alliances, licenses and other business
relationships with the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies
including Amgen, Merck, Pfizer, Sanofi, Janssen, Takeda, Servier,
Gilead Sciences and Baxter International. For more information,
please visit www.ligand.com.
Follow Ligand on Twitter @Ligand_LGND.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements by Ligand
that involve risks and uncertainties and reflect Ligand's judgment
as of the date of this release. These forward-looking statements
include regarding the plans of Vernalis and Servier to identify new
therapeutic targets and the potential for economic returns based on
any clinical and regulatory milestones. Actual events or results
may differ from Ligand’s and Vernalis' expectations. For example,
the collaboration with Servier may not identify therapeutic targets
that support further development and it may take more time or
resources to identify or enable therapeutic targets than Vernalis
or Servier expect. Many of these risks also apply to the other
programs which comprise Ligand’s shots-on-goal portfolio. The
failure to meet expectations with respect to any of the foregoing
matters may reduce Ligand's stock price. Additional information
concerning these and other important risk factors affecting Ligand
can be found in Ligand's prior press releases and its periodic
filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (including its
most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly
reports on Form 10-Q), as updated by future period reports filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Ligand disclaims any
intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements
beyond the date of this report. This caution is made under the safe
harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200615005088/en/
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Incorporated Patrick O'Brien Email:
investors@ligand.com Phone: (858) 550-7893 Twitter:
@Ligand_LGND
LHA Investor Relations Bruce Voss Email: bvoss@lhai.com Phone:
(310) 691-7100
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