CrystalGenomics and ProQuest Investments Create a Joint Company, Palkion, Inc.
EMERYVILLE, Calif., Feb. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Novel drug discovery and development firm CrystalGenomics/CG Pharmaceuticals recently announced a strategic alliance agreement with a leading US-based venture capital firm, ProQuest Investments to identify and develop orally available drugs that modulate the HIF Prolyl Hydroxylase enzyme system.
Under this agreement, CrystalGenomics will receive up to $6 million in upfront and initial research funding from Palkion, in addition to development and sales milestone payments of potentially more than $200 million. CrystalGenomics will also initially own 50% of Palkion, Inc. ProQuest will capitalize Palkion with a Series A investment and also provide the management personnel for Palkion. CG will use its unique structure-based drug design capabilities to identify drug candidates while Palkion will oversee the clinical development of novel drug candidates.
"This strategic alliance is an affirmation of CrystalGenomics' ability to discover novel drugs," stated Dr. Joong-Myung Cho, President and CEO of CrystalGenomics. "This deal leverages our core drug discovery capabilities in a meaningful way," added Paul Kim, Vice President & CBO of CrystalGenomics/CG Pharmaceuticals. "Through shared responsibilities with Palkion, we will accelerate our drug development process and establish CG as a global-scale pharmaceutical firm."
About CrystalGenomics/CG Pharmaceuticals
CrystalGenomics is a leading structure-based drug discovery company headquartered in Seoul, Korea with a US presence in Emeryville, California (CG Pharmaceuticals). CrystalGenomics has assembled a diverse pipeline of novel drug discovery programs in the areas of cancer, inflammation and anti-infective. CrystalGenomics currently is developing new mechanism NSAID, currently in Phase 2 trials, along with two preclinical programs including CG200745, an oral/IV HDAC inhibitor for cancer, and CG400549, novel, first-in-class antibiotic targeting MRSA & VRSA. The Company has established several drug discovery collaborations with Japanese Pharmaceutical companies including Daiichi Sankyo, Tanabe, and OncoTherapy. CrystalGenomics is publicly-held with a listing on the KOSDAQ exchange.
CrystalGenomics is seeking pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners for select collaboration opportunities. For more information, please visit http://www.cgpharma.com
CONTACT: Paul Kim, VP & Chief Business Officer, +1-510-594-8202,
paulk@cgpharma.com, or Young Chang, +1-510-594-8200, ychang@cgpharma.com,
both of CG Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Web site: http://www.cgpharma.com/