Vernalis PLC Enters Into Research Collaboration With Asahi Kasei Pharma
1 October 2013 -- Vernalis plc (LSE: VER) announced today that it has entered into a drug discovery collaboration with Asahi Kasei Pharma (AKP), utilizing Vernalis’ fragment and structure-based drug discovery platform against an undisclosed target for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.
The financial terms of this collaboration are not disclosed.
Ian Garland, CEO of Vernalis, commented: “We are delighted to be selected by AKP to work with them on this target. This further endorses our market leading fragment and structure-based drug discovery platform and validates our strategy to fund our research activities through collaborations. We look forward to a successful collaboration with Asahi Kasei Pharma.”
Osamu Matsuzaki, General Manager of Pharmaceuticals Research Center of AKP said “We have been impressed by the extensive expertise of Vernalis on SBDD and FBDD technologies. This collaboration greatly enhances AKP's efforts on the development of novel treatment of autoimmune diseases.”
Enquiries: Vernalis Contacts:
Ian Garland, Chief Executive Officer
+44 (0) 118 938 0015 David Mackney, Chief Financial Officer
Oriel Securities Ltd:
+44 (0)20 7710 7600 Jonathan Senior
Giles Balleny
Brunswick Group:
+44 (0) 20 7404 5959 Jon Coles
About Asahi Kasei Pharma
Asahi Kasei Pharma Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a research-based healthcare innovator that discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets products for the pharmaceutical, diagnostics, and medical nutrition markets. Asahi Kasei Pharma is a wholly owned business unit of Asahi Kasei Corporation, a US$17 billion technology company that provides innovative, science-based solutions to a diverse range of markets including chemicals and plastics, apparel, housing and construction, healthcare, and electronics. For more information, please visit the Asahi Kasei Corporation website at www.asahi-kasei.co.jp
About Vernalis
Vernalis is a revenue generating development stage pharmaceutical company with significant expertise in drug development. The Group has one marketed product, frovatriptan for the acute treatment of migraine, an exclusive licensing agreement to develop and commercialise multiple novel products focussed on the US prescription cough cold market as well as seven programmes in its NCE development pipeline. Vernalis has also significant expertise in fragment and structure based drug discovery which it leverages to enter into collaborations with larger pharmaceutical companies. The Company’s technologies, capabilities and products have been endorsed over the last five years by collaborations with leading pharmaceutical companies, including Biogen Idec, Endo, GSK, Genentech, Lundbeck, Menarini, Novartis, Servier and Tris Pharma.
For further information about Vernalis, please visit www.vernalis.com
Vernalis Forward-Looking Statement
This news release may contain forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's current expectations regarding future events including the clinical development and regulatory clearance of the Company's products, the Company's ability to find partners for the development and commercialisation of its products, as well as the Company's future capital raising activities. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Actual events could differ materially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors including the success of the Company's research strategies, the applicability of the discoveries made therein, the successful and timely completion of clinical studies, the uncertainties related to the regulatory process, the ability of the Company to identify and agree beneficial terms with suitable partners for the commercialisation and/or development of its products, as well as the achievement of expected synergies from such transactions, the acceptance of frovatriptan and other products by consumers and medical professionals, the successful integration of completed mergers and acquisitions and achievement of expected synergies from such transactions, and the ability of the Company to identify and consummate suitable strategic and business combination transactions.
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