NiKem Research s.r.l. Enters Into Research Service Agreement with InterMune, Inc.
Milan, June 25th, 2007 -- NiKem Research Srl, an Italian drug discovery service provider, announced today that it has entered into a Research Service Agreement with InterMune, Inc., a California-based biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapies in hepatology and pulmonology. Under the terms of the agreement, NiKem will, in the next 12 months, use its medicinal chemistry and early ADMET/PK platform and expertise to design, synthesize and profile drug-like compounds aimed towards specific, undisclosed pulmonology targets of interest for InterMune. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
By pursuing this business opportunity with InterMune, NiKem Research further diversifies its client portfolio in Europe, the United States and Australia, now comprising large pharmaceutical corporations, small biotechs and a number of medium-sized companies.
Giuseppe Giardina, CEO of NiKem Research, said "Our integrated drug discovery platform will be applied to important projects within InterMune’s pulmonology research portfolio. We believe that our goal-oriented attitude, our teamwork-driven working approach and our pragmatic way of thinking will be of great value in this collaboration. Having noticed a similar mindset at InterMune since the start of our discussions, we’re very pleased to initiate this relationship among two leading companies in their respective areas.”
Pierfausto Seneci, CBO of NiKem Research, said, "We are delighted to start a multi-FTE business relationship with InterMune. Our capacity to penetrate the US market, notwithstanding the unfavourable €/$ exchange, is a strong proof of our competitiveness as a worldwide provider of high quality services in drug discovery. Our quality is assessed at best by the choice made by a respected biotechnology company that is working to develop innovative therapies in areas of unmet medical need, such as InterMune."
About NiKem Research
Based on decades of drug discovery experience and now operating at biotech speed, NiKem Research offers a full range of drug discovery services to the pharmaceutical industry. In addition to its expertise in medicinal chemistry (hit validation, hit to lead and lead optimization, iterative and parallel synthesis), NiKem Research provides its clients with computational and analytical chemistry support, early ADMET services, biochemical screening and in vivo DMPK. NiKem Research usually operates as a classical fee-for-service partner, but other business relationships (i.e., project- or assay-based) are also acceptable. For further information visit www.nikemresearch.com
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