AstraZeneca Licenses X-Chem Discovery Programs

X-Chem, Inc. has achieved several milestones, leading to the licensing of three drug discovery programs by AstraZeneca under the companies’ May 2012 collaboration. X-Chem’s platform has demonstrated the ability to discover novel, potent and selective lead compounds against a range of targets. AstraZeneca has licensed programs directed at an oncology PPI target, a respiratory/inflammation PPI target, and an antibacterial target. X-Chem received an upfront payment and research funding, as well as discovery and clinical development milestones. Financial terms were not disclosed.
 
“This illustrates X-Chem’s ability to serve as a leading source of novel small molecule therapeutics for our research partners. Our discovery platform capitalizes on multiple proprietary innovations in library design, screening methodology, and informatics that underlie its exceptional performance at identifying novel leads and addressing previously ‘undruggable’ targets,” said Rick Wagner, Ph.D., chief executive officer of X-Chem. “Working with collaborators who see the value in our unique offering, such as AstraZeneca, enables us to realize our shared vision of creating innovative therapeutics.”
 
“Our ongoing two-year, multi-target collaboration with X-Chem is focused on discovering leads to several of AstraZeneca’s drug targets using X-Chem’s innovative small molecule discovery platform,” said Mike Snowden, vice president of Discovery Sciences, AstraZeneca. “The collaboration has enabled generation of novel chemical series for three of our key therapeutic programs and is an important part of our small molecule discovery strategy.”