News & Events
< Back to News Overview
Xenome Grants MedImmune License to xdiscoverT Venom Peptide Library
08 / 01 / 2009
Xenome Limited ("Xenome") today announced it has executed a research licence agreement with MedImmune LLC (MedImmune"), a wholly owned subsidiary of AstraZeneca.
Under the partnership MedImmune will gain access to Xenome's xdiscoverT venom peptide library to exclusively screen for drug candidates against two undisclosed targets involved in key pain pathways.
The financial terms of the agreement remain confidential, however Xenome will receive an upfront cash payment for access to the xdiscoverT library. In addition, the partnership allows for MedImmune to fund research at Xenome relating to SAR (structure activity relationship) studies on hits' from the Xenome library.
The licence agreement also provides MedImmune with the option to enter into product licences on selected peptides from the Xenome library, which will trigger undisclosed milestone and royalty payments.
"We are delighted to bring MedImmune on board as a discovery partner," stated Xenome's Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ian Nisbet. "Together with our partnership with Amylin, the relationship with MedImmune underscores the potential for Xenome's discovery platform to deliver novel drug candidates. We are seeing significant interest in peptide drug discovery amongst both biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and aim to execute further partnerships during 2009."
The xdiscoverT library is a proprietary collection of more than 2000 primarily venom-derived peptides and is the result of a unique genomics capability that allows for the highly efficient discovery of novel peptides from cone snail venom tissue. Through the identification of venom peptide sequences, this genetic resource has been transformed into high quality synthesised peptides arrayed into a library suitable for high throughput screening.
Under the partnership MedImmune will gain access to Xenome's xdiscoverT venom peptide library to exclusively screen for drug candidates against two undisclosed targets involved in key pain pathways.
The financial terms of the agreement remain confidential, however Xenome will receive an upfront cash payment for access to the xdiscoverT library. In addition, the partnership allows for MedImmune to fund research at Xenome relating to SAR (structure activity relationship) studies on hits' from the Xenome library.
The licence agreement also provides MedImmune with the option to enter into product licences on selected peptides from the Xenome library, which will trigger undisclosed milestone and royalty payments.
"We are delighted to bring MedImmune on board as a discovery partner," stated Xenome's Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ian Nisbet. "Together with our partnership with Amylin, the relationship with MedImmune underscores the potential for Xenome's discovery platform to deliver novel drug candidates. We are seeing significant interest in peptide drug discovery amongst both biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and aim to execute further partnerships during 2009."
The xdiscoverT library is a proprietary collection of more than 2000 primarily venom-derived peptides and is the result of a unique genomics capability that allows for the highly efficient discovery of novel peptides from cone snail venom tissue. Through the identification of venom peptide sequences, this genetic resource has been transformed into high quality synthesised peptides arrayed into a library suitable for high throughput screening.