BALLERUP, Denmark & DUNDEE, Scotland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ubiquigent Limited (Ubiquigent) and LEO Pharma A/S announced today that they have entered into an option agreement granting LEO Pharma access to two novel compounds. Today’s announcement follows on from an earlier agreement between the parties entered into as part of LEO Pharma Open Innovation. Under the terms of this latest agreement LEO Pharma will pay Ubiquigent an upfront fee, followed by a further fee on exercise of the option and potential downstream milestone payments.
Ubiquigent and LEO Pharma entered into an agreement in 2018, as part of LEO Pharma Open Innovation, with the objective of evaluating a collection of Ubiquigent’s novel compounds across LEO Pharma’s in-house disease-relevant assays. This approach identified a number of active compounds, two of which will now be subject to the agreement announced today.
Ubiquigent’s Managing Director, Mr. Jason Mundin commented, “LEO Pharma Open Innovation has been an excellent way to test hypotheses and uncover new opportunities. We are pleased to be entering into this latest agreement and look forward to following the development of the compounds with our colleagues at LEO Pharma.”
Vice President of Global Research at LEO Pharma, Thorsten Thormann commented, “We are very excited to announce this collaboration with Ubiquigent. Through this new kind of partnership LEO Pharma is strengthening our research capabilities and disease understanding, extending our reach as the world expert in medical dermatology.”
Ubiquigent is a company that enables and supports protein degradation focused drug discovery via modulation and exploitation of the ubiquitin system. Its approach includes the capability to design and develop early stage novel compounds both as part of its Collaborative Drug Discovery partnerships but also on its own account for subsequent partnering. LEO Pharma is a leader in medical dermatology providing critical care products for the treatment of a number of indications including psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and eczema.
LEO Pharma Open Innovation invites anyone in the field of science to have their molecules tested using LEO Pharma research resources. Head of Open Innovation Niclas Nilsson said, “The unique setup of LEO Pharma Open Innovation creates the ideal circumstance for us to uncover what we didn’t know about, allowing for the exploration of completely novel targets and opportunities, which we probably wouldn’t be able to identify otherwise.”
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
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About LEO Pharma
LEO Pharma helps people achieve healthy skin. The company is a leader in medical dermatology with a robust R&D pipeline, a wide range of therapies and a pioneering spirit. Founded in 1908 and owned by the LEO Foundation, LEO Pharma has devoted decades of research and development to advance the science of dermatology, setting new standards of care for people with skin conditions. LEO Pharma is headquartered in Denmark with a global team of 6,000 people, serving 76 million patients in 130 countries.
For more information, please visit www.leo-pharma.com.
About LEO Pharma Open Innovation
LEO Pharma Open Innovation offers a unique set-up for exploring drug research with external partners such as biotech companies, start-ups and academic research institutions. The Open Innovation platform provides the opportunity to test whether a compound has the potential to treat inflammatory or dermatological diseases. The initiative enables any scientist to submit molecules for testing using the extensive research tools in the LEO Pharma laboratories. For free. No strings attached.
For more information, please visit: http://openinnovation.leo-pharma.com/
About Ubiquigent
Ubiquigent Limited enables and supports protein degradation focused drug discovery via modulation and exploitation of the ubiquitin system. Our chemistry and biology platforms allow us to design and develop novel compounds as part of strategic partnerships. In parallel we also provide access to our platforms and capabilities for the evaluation of our partners’ compounds.
For more information please visit www.ubiquigent.com.
