Blog Post
Ossianix Announces Strategic Research Collaboration with Lundbeck
- by kbw
- •
- 13 Jan, 2014
7thJanuary 2014
PHILADELPHIA, PA: Ossianix, Inc. today announced a strategic research collaboration with Lundbeck A/S. This collaboration follows a previous investment in 2012. The collaboration uses Ossianix’s innovative single domain antibody platform based on the shark VNAR structure and will focus on two projects.
PHILADELPHIA, PA: Ossianix, Inc. today announced a strategic research collaboration with Lundbeck A/S. This collaboration follows a previous investment in 2012. The collaboration uses Ossianix’s innovative single domain antibody platform based on the shark VNAR structure and will focus on two projects.
The first project will further develop Ossianix’s VNAR antagonists targeting an ion channel for the treatment of pain. The second project utilizes Ossianix’s Blood Brain Barrier targeting technology for the development of bispecific biopharmaceuticals to treat CNS disorders. The Ossianix platform has the advantage of targeting antibodies to the CNS where existing antibodies have proven less than ideal due to poor bioavailability. Lundbeck will fund the research plan with development and regulatory milestones.
Dr. Frank Walsh, Ossianix CEO, stated: “We are pleased to continue and extend our strategic relationship with Lundbeck. The VNAR platform has shown its potential in isolating potent and specific biopharmaceuticals to difficult drug targets and in developing strategies for CNS drug delivery. We will now proceed in partnership with Lundbeck with the goal of moving products to the clinic.”
Dr. Kim Andersen, Vice President of Research for Lundbeck, said: “We at Lundbeck have been impressed by the progress Ossianix has made following our initial investment and we look forward to a further productive relationship. This will allow us to develop novel biopharmaceuticals for very difficult CNS drug targets.”
About Ossianix
Ossianix is a privately held research company based in Philadelphia, PA with research laboratories in the UK. It develops novel biopharmaceuticals for a number of therapeutic areas including CNS. The company utilizes the versatile single domain shark VNAR scaffold to engineer unique differentiated products in a variety of formats including monospecific and bispecifics. The company was founded by two former senior executives from Wyeth and Pfizer, Drs. Frank S. Walsh and Corey S. Goodman. Ossianix is currently funded by Lundbeck, BioAdvance and other angel investors as well as non-dilutive grants.
About Lundbeck
H. Lundbeck A/S (LUN.CO, LUN DC, HLUYY) is a global pharmaceutical company highly committed to improving the quality of life of people living with brain diseases. For this purpose, Lundbeck is engaged in the entire value chain throughout research, development, production, marketing and sales of pharmaceuticals across the world. The company’s products are targeted at disorders such as depression and anxiety, psychotic disorders, epilepsy, Huntington’s, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Lundbeck’s pipeline consists of several mid- to late- stage development programs.
Lundbeck employs more than 5,800 people worldwide, 2,000 of whom are based in Denmark. With employees in 57 countries and products which are registered in more than 100 countries, Lundbeck has research centers in Denmark, China and the United States and production facilities in Italy, France, Mexico, China and Denmark. Lundbeck generated revenue of approximately DKK 15 billion in 2012.
For additional information, please visit www.lundbeck.com.
About BioAdvance
BioAdvance is a leading early-stage life sciences investor, with over $24MM committed to 57 life science start-up companies and academic technologies. To date ten portfolio companies have been acquired and almost $1.6B in follow-on capital (including M&A) has been attracted. The BioAdvance portfolio companies are developing 60 products to treat diseases such as cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and infectious disease, and seven products have been approved by the FDA to date.
For more information or to apply for funding please visit www.bioadvance.com.