Lille (France), Cambridge (Massachusetts, United States), June 9, 2008 – GENFIT (Alternext: ALGFT; ISIN: FR0004163111), a biopharmaceutical company at the forefront of research and development of cardiovascular, inflammatory and metabolic drugs today announced it has secured €7.1 million in funding by OSEO for Company’s leading participation in the IT-Diab program (Therapeutic Innovation – Diabetes) over the next five years.
As part of OSEO and under coordination of GENFIT, this Consortium is carried out by three other industrial organizations (genOway, SpiBio and Roowin) and seven academic institutions that in total will receive €6.2 million in funding support over the same period.
The IT-Diab Consortium has been selected within the framework of the “Industrial Strategic Innovation” program that is controlled by OSEO and has received the unanimous support of the industrial, scientific, and independent clinicians experts. The IT-Diab project will be focused on the physiopathological mechanisms leading to the insulin resistance and the pancreatic failure. It will aim at developing new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies to target the pre-diabetic conditions and the early stages of the Type 2 diabetes.
GENFIT is the lone drug discovery company engaged in this Consortium. GENFIT will play a key role in the industrial management of this program. The Company will particularly focus its efforts in multiple stages of target validation followed by identification, optimization, and characterization of lead compounds through early developmental stages. Jean-François Mouney, Chairman of GENFIT’s Management Board, stated: “With all of the partners engaged in IT-Diab project, we are very proud to have received such a consequent support. It is well known that OSEO is extremely selective in its selection process in order to concentrate its investments on the most ambitious research projects. The quality of scientific and management group in this Consortium and the synergies between the industrials and the academic institutions will ensure the delivery of the anticipated solutions. By its design and objectives, IT-Diab project is an example to follow. I hope that it will pave the way for other research programs within the French biotech industry and will make it possible for our sector to find innovating solutions to unmet therapeutic needs”.
About GENFIT: A biopharmaceutical company, GENFIT studies the deregulation of genes implicated in many of the most widespread diseases. GENFIT’s scientists identify new therapeutic targets and develop drug candidates designed specifically for such targets. GENFIT’s programs, conducted in partnership with pharmaceutical companies such as SANOFI-AVENTIS, SOLVAY GROUP, PIERRE FABRE, MERCK AG, and SERVIER, treat the most prevalent metabolic and inflammatory diseases. GENFIT’s development of proprietary drugs focuses on global cardiovascular risk factors, using a single molecule to simultaneously attack several pathologies (atherosclerosis, diabetes, obesity, etc.). GENFIT possesses a rich and diversified pipeline of drug candidates in all stages of development – development carried out by GENFIT alone or in partnership. GENFIT’s lead proprietary compound, GFT505, is currently in Phase II and another compound in partnership with SANOFI-AVENTIS (AVE0897) is now completing Phase I. With facilities in Lille, France, and Cambridge, MA (USA), the - PRESS RELEASE - JUNE 9, 2008 - PRESS RELEASE - JUNE 9, 2008 - PRESS RELEASE company has over 130 employees on staff, including over 100 scientists. GENFIT is a public company listed on the Alternext by Euronext™ Paris (Alternext: ALGFT; ISIN: FR0004163111). (www.genfit.com).
Contacts: GENFIT Investors Relations + 33 (0) 3 2016 4000 Investors@Genfit.com Milestones – Press Relations Bruno Arabian +33 (0)1 70 08 04 13 / +33 (0)6 87 88 47 26 - milestones@milestones-fr.com Items in this press release may contain forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties. The Company’s actual results could differ substantially from those anticipated in these statements owing to various risk factors which are described in the Company’s prospectus.
