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Harlow, UK and Copenhagen, Denmark, 16 July 2013 – Argenta, a Galapagos NV (Euronext: GLPG) company that provides drug discovery services from target validation to proof of concept, announced today that it has signed a collaboration agreement with Pcovery. Under the terms of the agreement, Argenta will provide medicinal chemistry and computer-aided drug design services, together with its integrated drug discovery expertise, to assist Pcovery in the identification of novel anti-fungal agents with the aim of discovering a development candidate that can be progressed into clinical trials. The collaboration is funded by a Wellcome Trust Seeding Drug Discovery (SDD) award.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention*, mycotic (fungal) infections pose a growing threat to public health. Opportunistic infections such as cryptococcosis and aspergillosis are becoming increasingly problematic due to the rising number of people with weakened immune systems, such as cancer patients, transplant recipients, and people with HIV/AIDS. In addition, hospital-associated infections such as candidemia are a leading cause of bloodstream infections in the United States and advances and changes in healthcare practices can provide opportunities for new and drug-resistant fungi to emerge in hospital settings. Finally, community-acquired infections such as coccidioidomycosis (valley fever), blastomycosis, and histoplasmosis are caused by fungi that are abundant in the environment and whose prevalence may be being increased by climate change. Consequently, there is a need for novel anti-fungal agents that can tackle threats such as these.
Pcovery is focused on the development of safe and efficient broad-spectrum anti-fungal agents using structure-based drug discovery to target membrane proteins. Pcovery is a spin-out company from the PUMPkin Centre (Centre for Membrane Pumps in Cells and Disease) at Aarhus University and Copenhagen University and was established in April 2009. The company’s investors include Novo Seeds and Østjysk Innovation.
Dr John Montana, Managing Director of Argenta, commented, “Argenta is pleased to announce this collaboration with Pcovery, which represents the third Wellcome Trust SDD-funded project aided by Argenta during the funding rounds in 2012. The Argenta team looks forward to working with Pcovery towards achieving the project goals over the coming months”.
Mr Casper Tind Hansen, CEO of Pcovery says, “We look forward very much to working with the highly skilled and capable Argenta team to progress what will hopefully be a novel class of anti-fungal drugs for invasive fungal infections. The Argenta team has already been a big help in securing the Wellcome Trust SDD funding.”
*US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, http://www.cdc.gov/fungal/, accessed 14 May 2013.
About Argenta
Argenta is a fully-integrated drug discovery services provider and a trusted partner for many world-leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies including AstraZeneca, Genentech, Janssen and Zafgen.
Argenta combines a comprehensive range of discovery services with multiple disease area expertise including respiratory, oncology, pain and inflammatory disease, providing a compelling combination of scientific excellence, a full in vitro and in vivo pharmacology and DMPK capability, cutting edge medicinal chemistry thinking and cost-effectiveness.
Argenta provides fully-integrated and stand-alone services from target validation through to Development Candidate nomination and have built an Industry-leading track record of delivering development compounds, averaging over three development compounds per year.
Founded in 2000, Argenta currently employs over 150 scientists in the UK with an average of 17 years’ pharmaceutical drug discovery expertise. Argenta has delivered 40 development candidates in 12 years, and greater than 85% of the Company’s contract research is repeat business. More information at: www.argentadiscovery.com
About Pcovery
Based on in-depth knowledge on the structure and biochemistry of selected membrane protein drug targets, Pcovery is focused on the development of safe and efficient broad-spectrum anti-fungal agents. Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, Pcovery is founded upon vast experience in three-dimensional structural determination of membrane proteins, structure-based drug development and medicinal chemistry. Visit the company website: www.pcovery.com for further information.
About the Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is a global charitable foundation dedicated to achieving extraordinary improvements in human and animal health. It supports the brightest minds in biomedical research and the medical humanities. The Trust’s breadth of support includes public engagement, education and the application of research to improve health. It is independent of both political and commercial interests. www.wellcome.ac.uk
CONTACTS
Media contact
Sarah Jeffery
Zyme Communications
Tel: +44 7771 730919
Email: sarah.jeffery@zymecommunications.com
Argenta
John Montana
Managing Director, Argenta
Tel. +44 1279 645645
Email: John.Montana@glpg.com
Pcovery
Casper Tind Hansen
Chief Executive Officer, Pcovery
Tel. +45 5159 4565
Email: cth@pcovery.com
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