MORPHOCHEM SIGNS DEAL WITH ASTRAZENECA TO DEVELOP NOVEL
ANTI-THROMBOTICS
Munich, November 21st 2002 …. Morphochem AG, a leader in evolutionary discovery of
small molecule drugs, has entered into a research collaboration with AstraZeneca AB
(Sweden) wherein Morphochem will apply its drug discovery engine, the MOREsystem™, to
the discovery of compounds with novel structures with activity against an undisclosed novel
target involved in the thrombosis hemostasis with the aim of developing novel treatments for
thrombolytic disorders.
Dr Peter Seufer-Wasserthal, Vice President Business Development at Morphochem, said:
“This collaboration fits our vision of working with partners to apply our MCR chemistry
expertise and drug discovery engine to generate potential drug candidates and we are
delighted to be working with AstraZeneca on this innovative programme.”
Under the terms of the agreement AstraZeneca will fund the research at Morphochem. The
terms of the deal were not disclosed. Under the research programme Morphochem will
apply its evolutionary drug discovery approach using multi-component reaction (MCR) chemistry
and its proprietary software - MolMind™ - based on genetic algorithms to identify structurally
novel compound classes as drug candidates for the target supplied by
AstraZeneca.
Morphochem’s MOREsystem™ generates a range of target-directed virtual small compound
libraries for hit and lead discovery in parallel, from which suitable libraries will be chosen for
synthesis and biological testing. Compound design, chemistry as well as primary screening
of compounds will be performed at Morphochem in close collaboration with
AstraZeneca.
Mikael Dohlsten, Global Vice President R&D at AstraZeneca, said:
“Morphochem has created a new drug discovery process allowing it to discover and optimise
novel chemical entities for previously thought to be "intractable" or difficult biological targets
in a fast, industrialized evolutionary process. The objective of this research collaboration is to
allow AstraZeneca to evaluate Morphochem’s approach to drug discovery and provide
AstraZeneca with compounds of novel structural classes.”
- ends -
Notes
Morphochem AG www.morphochem.de
Morphochem discovers and develops highly selective small molecule compounds for the medicines of
tomorrow. The company integrates novel chemistries with biological screening on the basis of its
proprietary MolMind™ technology. Its unique and highly integrated chemical genomics platform
provides a continuous flow of novel drug candidates for unmet medical needs in major areas of
indications such as cancer and inflammation.
Morphochem’s in house development pipeline includes an anti-thrombotic programme focused on
inhibitors of Factor Xa, anti-cancer programmes targeted at Ras-pathway modulators, and a portfolio
of projects against anti-infective targets. The company has established R&D partnerships with Aventis
in the areas of diabetes and anti-infectives.
Morphochem is headquartered in Munich and has research sites in Basel (Switzerland) and Princeton
(USA).
For further information please contact:
Media enquiries:
Charles Consultants
Sue Charles, Managing Partner
Tel: +44 (0)20 7321 3872
Mobile: +44 (0)7968 726585
E-mail: sue@charlesconsultants.co.uk
Investor enquiries:
Dr Lutz Weber, CEO
Thomas Loeser, CFO
Tel: +49 (0)89 78 00 50
E-mail: lutz.weber@morphochem.de
E-mail: thomas.loeser@morphochem.de
At Morphochem:
Dr Peter Seufer-Wasserthal
Tel: +43 (0)7673 321511
E-mail: peter.seufer@morphochem.de
