Sanofi (France) Inks $163 Million Tech Pact With Oncodesign SA

Dijon, France, September 13, 2012 – Oncodesign, a drug discovery company and oncology pharmacology service provider, announces today that the company has entered into a strategic research collaboration with Sanofi to apply exclusively Oncodesign’s Nanocyclix(R) technology to several Sanofi kinase target programs.

Nanocyclix(R) is a proprietary medicinal chemistry technology and research platform based on macrocyclisation chemical methodology and knowledge that gives access to potent and selective kinase inhibitors based on shape complementarity in the ATP binding site of kinases. In this way, unprecedented selectivity is achieved even among kinases with high homology. In addition, the technology allows rapid improvement in the pharmacokinetic properties of the Nanocyclix(R) leads based on established knowledge. Oncodesign is the leader in the field of macrocyclic kinase inhibitors and proposes both partnership opportunities in its internal programs as well as applying the technology to its partner’s lead kinase programs.

“We are very pleased that Sanofi, a world leader amongst pharmaceutical companies, has selected Oncodesign as a partner for advancing their internal kinase programs. This agreement further validates the development of our company into a platform company with innovative technologies in medicinal chemistry and advanced oncological pharmacology," said Philippe Genne, Ph.D., chief executive officer and Oncodesign founder.

The application of Nanocyclix(R) to Sanofi’s kinase lead programs aims to allow for a quicker selection of development candidates for multiple undisclosed kinase targets in kinase families that are notoriously difficult to address.

Under the terms of the agreement, Oncodesign will exclusively apply its Nanocyclix(R) technology platform in multiple undisclosed Sanofi kinase programs for a number of therapeutic applications over a period of four years. Oncodesign is entitled to a technology access fee and discovery, development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments totaling up to EUR 130 million and low single digit royalties on net sales.

"This new Agreement illustrates the leading position of Oncodesign in the kinase inhibitor field. Our Nanocyclix(R) technology is now clearly established as a high value, differentiating approach that gives access to next generation kinase inhibitors in multiple therapeutic indications,” said Jan Hoflack, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of Oncodesign.

About Oncodesign

Founded in 1995 and headed by Dr. Philippe Genne, Oncodesign is a pioneer in the preclinical assessment of anti-cancer therapies, a market that it is leading for many years. Oncodesign’s mission consists of discovering effective anti-cancer therapies. Its scientific expertise in pharmacology, imaging and medicinal chemistry, in addition to strong project management skills, support the company’s two strategic activities of experimentation and discovery, conducted in partnership with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

The experimentation activity is organized in three technological platforms: PREDICT(R) specializes in conventional in vitro and in vivo pharmacology; Chi-Mice(R) focuses on the development of in vivo chimeric humanized models; PharmImage(R) is dedicated to multimodal, non-invasive pharmaco-imaging. On the basis of these three platforms, Oncodesign markets a broad range of products and services (fee-for-service) for the assessment, validation, targeting and diagnostic linking of anticancer therapies. Since 2010, Oncodesign has incorporated a medicinal chemistry technology into its discovery activity: Nanocyclix(R), which is dedicated to the synthesis of highly potent and selective novel kinase inhibitors. The combination of these four technological platforms results in a unique and innovative translational research approach in a risk-sharing approach between partners.

For more information, see: http://www.oncodesign.com

Mark Tidmarsh

ANDREW LLOYD & ASSOCIATES

http://www.ala.com

mark@ala.com

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