PARIS & DIJON, France--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Regulatory News:
ONCODESIGN (Alternext: ALONC) and Ipsen (Euronext: IPN; ADR: IPSEY) today announced that they have entered into a strategic partnership in oncology. Under this new agreement, Oncodesign will handle pre-clinical pharmacology for Ipsen’s oncology research programs. In addition, some of Oncodesign’s teams are moving to Ipsen’s largest R&D center at the Paris-Saclay hub, putting them at the heart of an ecosystem made up of research scientists, leading educational institutions, research facilities and cutting-edge industrial groups. For the past 20 years, Oncodesign and Ipsen have worked together on R&D projects based on a service and co-development relationship, before sealing a drug discovery partnership in 2012.
Claude Bertrand, Ipsen’s Executive Vice-President, R&D and Chief Scientific Officer, said: “Ipsen has decided to locate its three R&D centers at the heart of the world’s top competitiveness clusters in the life sciences industry (Paris-Saclay in France, Oxford in the United Kingdom, and Cambridge in the United States) to step up the pace of discovery of innovative new drugs.” Christophe Thurieau, Ipsen Innovation’s Senior Vice-President, Worldwide Scientific Affairs, added: “This partnership with Oncodesign fits perfectly with the development of Ipsen’s new R&D model, in which our Paris-Saclay platform will become a private open innovation campus. Oncodesign has renowned expertise in oncology, and we are delighted to have them join us at our Innovation Campus.”
“Oncodesign is honored to have been chosen as a key strategic partner of Ipsen. This is testimony to the innovative nature of the technologies we have been developing for several years”, stated Philippe Genne, CEO of Oncodesign. “Oncodesign has long been involved in the development of new economic and social models that meet the current and future challenges raised by innovation in the life sciences. Directly in keeping with our collective commitment within AFSSI1, we are proud to be able to play our part in accelerating the development of Ipsen’s private innovation campus in Paris-Saclay. This new concept aims to foster innovation by bringing together organizations with different cultures. Oncodesign will also gain access to new skills and expertise critical for the development of new therapies, including in pharmacology and the development of biomarkers.”
Ipsen will use experimental models and new pharmacological approaches based on Oncodesign’s pharmaco-imaging and the detection of biomarkers. This new partnership represents a shift from a collaborative model that has already proven its value to a more extensive collaboration over a renewable 5-year term through the creation of a joint research team based both at Ipsen’s Les Ulis facility and Oncodesign’s facility in Dijon.
As part of this collaboration, Oncodesign will receive a minimum guaranteed annual fee to cover the cost of its research efforts at Les Ulis and of its Dijon platform, to which variable payments, linked to business volumes generated by Ipsen’s programs, may be added.
About Ipsen
Ipsen is a global specialty-driven biotechnological group with total sales exceeding €1.4 billion in 2015. Ipsen sells more than 20 drugs in more than 115 countries, with a direct commercial presence in more than 30 countries. Ipsen’s ambition is to become a leader in specialty healthcare solutions for targeted debilitating diseases. Its fields of expertise cover oncology, neurosciences and endocrinology (adult & pediatric). Ipsen’s commitment to oncology is exemplified through its growing portfolio of key therapies improving the care of patients suffering from prostate cancer, bladder cancer and neuro-endocrine tumors. Ipsen also has a significant presence in primary care. Moreover, the Group has an active policy of partnerships. Ipsen's R&D is focused on its innovative and differentiated technological platforms, peptides and toxins, located in the heart of the leading biotechnological and life sciences hubs (Les Ulis/Paris-Saclay, France; Slough/Oxford, UK; Cambridge, US). In 2015, R&D expenditure totaled close to €193 million. The Group has more than 4,600 employees worldwide. Ipsen’s shares are traded on segment A of Euronext Paris (stock code: IPN, ISIN code: FR0010259150) and eligible to the “Service de Règlement Différé” (“SRD”). The Group is part of the SBF 120 index. Ipsen has implemented a Sponsored Level I American Depositary Receipt (ADR) program, which trade on the over-the-counter market in the United States under the symbol IPSEY. For more information on Ipsen, visit www.ipsen.com.
About Oncodesign: www.oncodesign.com
Founded over 20 years ago by Dr Philippe Genne, the Company’s CEO and Chairman, Oncodesign is a biotechnology company that maximises the pharmaceutical industry’s chances of success in discovering new therapeutic molecules to fight cancer and other serious illnesses with no known effective treatment. With its unique experience acquired by working with more than 500 clients, including the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, along with its comprehensive technological platform combining state-of-the-art medicinal chemistry, advanced animal modelling and medical imaging, Oncodesign is able to predict and identify, at a very early stage, each molecule's therapeutic usefulness and potential to become an effective drug. Applied to kinase inhibitors, which represent a market estimated at over $40 billion in 2016 and accounting for almost 25% of the pharmaceutical industry’s R&D expenditure, Oncodesign’s technology has already enabled the targeting of several promising molecules with substantial therapeutic potential, in oncology and elsewhere, along with partnerships with pharmaceutical groups such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Ipsen and UCB. Oncodesign is based in Dijon, France, in the heart of the town’s university and hospital hub. It has 103 employees and subsidiaries in Canada and the USA.
Forward Looking Statement
The forward-looking statements, objectives and targets contained herein are based on the Group’s management strategy, current views and assumptions. Such statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those anticipated herein. All of the above risks could affect the Group’s future ability to achieve its financial targets, which were set assuming reasonable macroeconomic conditions based on the information available today. Use of the words "believes," "anticipates" and "expects" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, including the Group’s expectations regarding future events, including regulatory filings and determinations. Moreover, the targets described in this document were prepared without taking into account external growth assumptions and potential future acquisitions, which may alter these parameters. These objectives are based on data and assumptions regarded as reasonable by the Group. These targets depend on conditions or facts likely to happen in the future, and not exclusively on historical data. Actual results may depart significantly from these targets given the occurrence of certain risks and uncertainties, notably the fact that a promising product in early development phase or clinical trial may end up never being launched on the market or reaching its commercial targets, notably for regulatory or competition reasons. The Group must face or might face competition from generic products that might translate into a loss of market share. Furthermore, the Research and Development process involves several stages each of which involves the substantial risk that the Group may fail to achieve its objectives and be forced to abandon its efforts with regards to a product in which it has invested significant sums. Therefore, the Group cannot be certain that favourable results obtained during pre-clinical trials will be confirmed subsequently during clinical trials, or that the results of clinical trials will be sufficient to demonstrate the safe and effective nature of the product concerned. There can be no guarantees a product will receive the necessary regulatory approvals or that the product will prove to be commercially successful. If underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Other risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to, general industry conditions and competition; general economic factors, including interest rate and currency exchange rate fluctuations; the impact of pharmaceutical industry regulation and health care legislation; global trends toward health care cost containment; technological advances, new products and patents attained by competitors; challenges inherent in new product development, including obtaining regulatory approval; the Group's ability to accurately predict future market conditions; manufacturing difficulties or delays; financial instability of international economies and sovereign risk; dependence on the effectiveness of the Group’s patents and other protections for innovative products; and the exposure to litigation, including patent litigation, and/or regulatory actions. The Group also depends on third parties to develop and market some of its products which could potentially generate substantial royalties; these partners could behave in such ways which could cause damage to the Group’s activities and financial results. The Group cannot be certain that its partners will fulfil their obligations. It might be unable to obtain any benefit from those agreements. A default by any of the Group’s partners could generate lower revenues than expected. Such situations could have a negative impact on the Group’s business, financial position or performance. The Group expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward looking statements, targets or estimates contained in this press release to reflect any change in events, conditions, assumptions or circumstances on which any such statements are based, unless so required by applicable law. The Group’s business is subject to the risk factors outlined in its registration documents filed with the French Autorité des Marchés Financiers.
The risks and uncertainties set out are not exhaustive and the reader is advised to refer to the Group’s 2014 Registration Document available on its website (www.ipsen.com).
1 French Association of Outsourcing and Innovative Companies in the field of Life Sciences: www.afssi.fr
