The companies will work together on integrated drug discovery (medicinal and computational chemistry, biology and DMPK) to optimise Chronos’ selective orexin 1 antagonists that have shown considerable promise in treating addiction.
Chronos will lead the programme and have access to world leading experts at the Aptuit site in Verona, Italy. All intellectual property, know-how, development and marketing rights for the programme will belong to Chronos.
Each of the addictive behaviours targeted represents an area of significant unmet medical need, complementing Chronos’ additional programmes for the fatal neurodegenerative disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and fatigue associated with multiple sclerosis (MS).
The strong expertise that Aptuit Verona has in this area significantly increases our chances of success in developing a truly novel agent for the treatment of addictive behaviours
Dr Huw Jones, CEO of Chronos Therapeutics, commented: "We are very pleased to partner with Aptuit for our selective orexin 1 programme. The strong expertise that Aptuit Verona has in this area significantly increases our chances of success in developing a truly novel agent for the treatment of addictive behaviours. It further supports Chronos' commitment to developing specific and effective treatments for behavioural brain diseases that have a profound impact on patients’ quality of life.”
Dr Jonathan Goldman, CEO of Aptuit Holdings LLC commented: “We are delighted to partner with Chronos to develop these treatments for patients. Chronos’ commitment and in-depth knowledge in this area combines perfectly with our decades of internal expertise in orexin chemistry and biology.”
