Kareus Therapeutics enters pact with Quintiles
Alliance combines drug discovery with development expertise
Kareus Therapeutics, a Swiss firm that focuses on the development of therapeutics to address high unmet medical need, has entered into a strategic alliance with US biopharmaceutical services provider Quintiles to progress the development of two of Kareus' programmes through clinical trials.
Under the terms of the alliance, Quintiles will invest a ‘seven-figure sum’ of US dollars in Kareus, comprising an equity investment and access to clinical service on a shared-risk basis.
Following the investment, Kareus, which is based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, plans to submit an investigational new drug (IND) application for KU-046, a new chemical entity for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Kareus has also identified a series of molecules for the treatment of Type-2 diabetes and will select a clinical candidate for development later this year. Quintiles will conduct Phase I proof-of-relevance clinical trials for KU-046 and the chosen diabetes candidate.
Tom Perkins, senior vice president of corporate development for Quintiles, said: ‘This agreement is an example of how leading biotechnology companies are building partnerships that extend beyond the traditional licensing model to manage risk, increase productivity, and increase value to stakeholders.’
Patrick Doyle of Kareus Therapeutics added: ‘With Quintiles as our partner, Kareus is now ideally placed to accelerate the development of our novel drug pipeline and advance the first product candidates generated by our innovative discovery platform, KARLECT, into clinical studies.’
KARLECT is Kareus’s chemistry and drug discovery platform, which targets molecular and gene expression pathways.
