LDC and AstraZeneca broaden Drug Discovery Alliance

The Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC) and AstraZeneca have expanded their alliance to discover new medicines for the treatment of human diseases with high unmet medical need.

Dortmund, Westphalia (prnob) April 14, 2015 - The Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC) and AstraZeneca have expanded their alliance to discover new medicines for the treatment of human diseases with high unmet medical need. Through an additional three-year period of collaboration, AstraZeneca will provide an extended set of high-quality compounds to the LDC's internal screening collection to pursue projects in the areas of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, oncology, respiratory and inflammation and neuroscience.

The renewal of the partnership follows a successful two-year period of collaboration and establishes the LDC as one of AstraZeneca's four leading translational centers. Over the last two years, the LDC and AstraZeneca have already initiated six high-potential drug discovery projects which are progressing well.

"We are very much looking forward to continuing and expanding our alliance with AstraZeneca," says Bert Klebl, CEO of the LDC. "The passionate scientific exchange and very productive interaction so far has exceeded our expectations and we are more than happy to now further build on this well-functioning partnership. We not only share our compound libraries but, moreover, our know-how and expertise on technologies and emerging disease areas, which enables us to identify, select and effectively progress joint projects . Together, we are perfectly situated to accelerate the translation of academic findings into new medicines."

"We are very excited to continue our partnership with the LDC," says Garry Pairaudeau, Head of External sciences at AstraZeneca. "Open Innovation is a key part of our drug discovery strategy and we are continuing to grow our external partner network. With LDC we have enjoyed a vibrant and productive scientific collaboration and it is clear that their scientists share our values and commitment to developing new medicines for patients who have an unmet medical need."

Under the terms of the alliance, the LDC will screen the combined compound collection of more than 450,000 compounds against a portfolio of innovative biological targets. Targets will be carefully selected by the LDC from its broad range of academic partner institutions, including members of the Max Planck Society, Germany's leading basic research organization. A joint steering committee oversees the collaboration and reviews the output. The LDC takes the most promising compounds into further drug discovery by optimizing them into pharmaceutical leads with in vivo proof-of-concept. AstraZeneca has a preferred right to obtain a license for pre-clinical and clinical development and commercialization for collaboration projects.

About the LDC

The Lead Discovery Center (LDC) was established in 2008 by the technology transfer organization Max Planck Innovation, as a novel approach to capitalize on the potential of excellent basic research for the discovery of new therapies for diseases with high medical need.

The LDC takes on promising early-stage projects from academia and transforms them into innovative pharmaceutical leads that reach initial proof-of-concept in animals. In close collaboration with high-profile partners from academia and industry, the LDC is building a strong and growing portfolio of small molecule leads with exceptional medical and commercial potential. The LDC sustains a preferred partnership with the Max Planck Society and has formed alliances with AstraZeneca, Bayer, Merck Serono and Daiichi Sankyo as well as leading academic drug discovery centers around the globe.

Further information at: www.lead-discovery.de

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a global, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical business with a primary focus on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines for gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory and inflammation, oncology and infectious disease. AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its innovative medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide.

Further information at: www.astrazeneca.com

Contact

Thomas Hegendörfer
T. +49.231.97 42 70 02
E. hegendoerfer@lead-discovery.de
Lead Discovery Center GmbH
Otto-Hahn-Straße 15
44227 Dortmund
Germany

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