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Gdansk, Poland 19 June 2013 -- Blirt SA (Warsaw NewConnect BLR), which is focused on oncology and antifungal R&D as well as operating as a CRO, has formed a partnership with Life Science Biznes Consulting (lsbc) Sp. zo.o. to work on the out-licensing of its antifungal assets. It believes that its potential drug candidates, which have shown promising results in in vitro and in vivo studies, have potential in a range of fungal diseases such as candidosis and aspergillosis.
The global market for antifungal therapeutics was valued at $10.7 billion in 2011 and is projected to reach $12.2 billion in 2016, according to data from BCC Research.
Blirt has identified several novel derivatives of nystatin A1 and amphotericin B with much improved pharmaceutical characteristics which include significantly enhanced water solubility, an increase in potency and reduced toxicity. These improvements, which are the subject of several patent applications, will render these molecules suitable for treatment of conditions such as systemic fungal infections, without complex formulation.
Blirt has chosen to work with Life Science Biznes Consulting (lsbc), a Krakow-based advisory firm with recognised international connections and experience of the financial and pharmaceutical community, to find an acquirer for its antifungal assets. Roland Kozlowski, owner and CEO of lsbc, will act as an advisor to Blirt’s board of directors.
Marian Popinigis, Main Board Director of Blirt said, “Blirt’s business model involves early-stage partnering of its drug candidates”, adding “lsbc is recognised as a leading provider of commercial and strategic advice in the life science sector in Central Europe and therefore is well-placed to assist us in generating optimal shareholder return.”
Roland Kozlowski, CEO of lsbc, said: “lsbc is delighted to have the opportunity to work with Blirt, which is clearly in possession of some exceptionally strong IP which will provide an eventual licensor with a considerable competitive advantage and the opportunity to generate substantial revenue in a growing market.”.
About Blirt
BLIRT (BioLab Innovative Research Technologies), founded in 2008, is an innovative drug discovery company. It operates a hybrid business model providing certain services to pharmaceutical clients as well as conducting its own research. Its therapeutic focus is in the anti-infective and oncology arenas where the company has benefited from strong contacts with leading academics in Poland which have generated the intellectual property behind the company’s in-house programs. BLIRT’s laboratories and offices are located at the Gdansk Science and Technology Park in Gdansk, Poland. The company has state of the art equipment and lab facilities which are ISO 9001 accredited and the capability to execute regulatory in vitro and analytical pre-clinical studies to GLP standards. In addition to providing services, the company’s commercial strategy involves partnering its pharmaceutical assets at the pre-development stage. However, under certain circumstances it would be willing to discuss co-development since it is in a position to potentially benefit from public funds assigned to support this sector in Poland. Further information about Blirt is at: www.blirt.eu
Contact:
Dominik Zietkowski, BLIRT SA
Gdansk Science and Technology Park
ul. Trzy Lipy 3/1.38
80-172 Gdansk, POLAND
Phone PL: +48 661 601 165
e-mail: dominik.zietkowski@blirt.eu
About LSBC
LSBC is run by Roland Kozlowski who has been working in the life science sector since the mid 1990s. It provides the following services:
? Life science and pharmaceutical business consultancy
? Advice for western companies seeking to do business in Central Europe
? Due diligence services
? Seeking finance and investor syndication
? For the Central European market it specialises in commercialisation of early stage science
Although lsbc works globally it specialises in the Central European life science sector. lsbc works through a network of associates with expertise in many aspects of pharmaceutical and life science product research and development and finance. LSBC was founded by Roland Kozlowski who received a first class honours degree from the University of Bath and a PhD from the University of Cambridge. He is a bioentrepreneur who has worked in the industry for approaching two decades. Roland has held a number of operational roles including most recently Chief Executive Officer and a founder of Lectus Therapeutics Limited (investor exit via asset sale to UCB in Q4, 2011), Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Sense Proteomic Limited (trade sale to Procognia Limited in Q1, 2003). In the mid 1990s Roland worked with Oxford Molecular PLC on the cornerstone deal he negotiated with Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. During his career Roland has gained considerable transactional experience ranging from company sale, purchase, financing and in- and out-licensing and commercialisation of technology. In the past Roland ran a Research Groups at the University of Oxford and University of Bristol where subsequently he was a Visiting Industrial Professor. He has published and patented in the field of ion channel physiology and pharmacology. Roland has served on the boards of a number of companies including the BioIndustry Association in the UK. He remains a director of Lectus Therapeutics Limited, is non-executive director of London Genetics Limited which operates in the personalised medicine space, and is Chief Strategy Officer of BTM Mazowsze Sp. z o. o. a company set up to commercialize innovation emerging from the leading life science research institutions in Warsaw. www.lsbc.pl
Contact:
Roland Kozlowski, Life Science Biznes Consulting (LSBC) Sp z o. o.
Park Life Science, ul. Bobrzynskiego 14
30-348 Kraków, Poland
Phone PL: +48 608 095656
Phone UK: +44 (0)7760 347337 e-mail: rzk@lsbc.pl
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