Author name: ASolia

Axxam and Lonza Announce the Signing of a License Agreement for the Use of Axxam’s Photoproteins in Lonza’s Calcium Biosensors Axxam announced its participation in a consortium that has been awarded a grant of EUR 1.5 million by the Regione Lombardia (Metadistretti), covering 3/5 of the total project costs of EUR 2.5 million. This innovative research program is aimed at identifying selective inhibitors for ghrelin O-acyltransferase (GOAT), a very recently identified key enzyme regulating the food intake of a fat-rich diet, thus offering an excellent entry point for the treatment of metabolic diseases. The grant, which is non-refundable and will cover R&D expenses over a 36 month period, is intended to accelerate the development of innovative technologies and products in the local non-food biotechnology cluster (metadistretto). Funds are awarded on the basis of the scientific, technical and economic merit of each proposal. The consortium is led by CISI scrl, a non-profit pharma research company, and also includes Primm srl, a service company for several technology platforms. Axxam will provide its drug discovery platforms, including bio assay development, proprietary HTS technologies and screening compound collections. CISI will contribute with its resources and expertise in medicinal and bioanalytical chemistry, while Primm will provide specific expertise in protein expression and peptide chemistry. This substantial financing from the Regione Lombardia provides important support to Axxam’s business strategy in generating lead compounds for targets associated with high medical needs.

Alessandro Sidoli appointed President of Assobiotec for the 3-year period 2010-2012 During the Annual General Assembly held in Rome on 20 May 2010, Alessandro Sidoli was appointed the new President of Assobiotec for the 3-year period 2010-2012. Assobiotec is the Italian Association for the Development of Biotechnology, representing more than 100 companies and science & technology parks operating in Italy in various biotech-related fields: pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, agro-food, fine chemicals, environment, processing industry and equipment. They include emerging biotech companies and small to medium enterprises, as well as the biotech divisions of large organizations. Alessandro is the co-founder and currently Chief Executive Officer of Axxam, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of Externautics SpA. During the ‘90s he founded and served as Chief Executive Officer of Primm and was also Director of Technology Transfer at San Raffaele in Milan.

Axxam announces appointment of Prof. Hanno Wild to Board of Directors Axxam shareholders approved the appointment of Prof. Dr. Hanno Wild as member of the Board of Directors. Prof. Dr. Hanno Wild is Head of Global Lead Generation and Optimization within Global Drug Discovery at Bayer Schering Pharma (BSP). Prof. Wild is responsible for all research activities with respect to generation and optimization of new chemical entities (NCE) up to preclinical development at all BSP research sites (Beijing, Berlin, Wuppertal). Before the Schering integration in 2007 Prof. Wild was Senior Vice President Discovery Europe, heading all BHC Pharma research activities at the German research site in Wuppertal. From 2002-2006 he worked as Vice President and Head of Medicinal Chemistry in Wuppertal. Before that time he had various responsibilities at the Medicinal Chemistry Department in Wuppertal, e. g. as a section head, responsible for the Therapeutic area “Atherosclerosis“. From 1994-1996 he was delegated to the Bayer Pharma Research Center in West Haven, Connecticut. In West Haven Hanno started the first projects of Bayer in the cancer field including the project leading to the marketed product Nexavar. In 2008 Hanno was appointed honorary professor at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn.

Polyphor Ltd and Axxam SpA Announce Ion Channel Collaboration Polyphor Ltd – a clinical stage biotech company applying its proprietary drug discovery research platforms to address protein-protein interactions and other challenging targets and Axxam SpA – a leading company in conducting early-stage discovery research programs for the life science industry, are pleased to announce a joint discovery agreement with a synergistic combination of their discovery platforms. Under the terms of the collaboration the two companies will work together to discover and develop innovative drug candidates for selected therapeutic areas such as pain, inflammation, and metabolic disorders. Axxam will apply its expertise and outstanding Hit Discovery platforms and capabilities and Polyphor will provide its unique, proprietary PEM finder® library for screening together with its expertise in medicinal chemistry, drug discovery and development. The collaboration comprises several discovery programs addressing very attractive ion channel based targets. Open PDF document

Axxam Receives US Patent for Innovative Technology Photina® Axxam is pleased to announce the award of US Patent number US 7,601,805 B2, entitled “Photoprotein with improved bioluminescence”, describing the company’s proprietary photoprotein known as Photina®. The invention provides a chimeric photoprotein with improved luminescent activity and its use as a calcium indicator in reporter gene systems and in cell-based assays for the detection and measurement of intracellular calcium. This novel calcium-detecting photoprotein is applicable to a large number of different screening platforms for the pharmaceutical industry and for the study of any biological process involving calcium release.

Fast Forward, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Axxam SpA join Forces to Accelerate Development of Treatments for Multiple Sclerosis and Type 1 Diabetes Fast Forward, LLC, the commercial drug development arm of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), the leader in research leading to a cure for type 1 diabetes in the world entered a collaborative partnership with Axxam SpA – a leading company in conducting early-stage discovery research programs for the life science industry – to develop new treatments for two autoimmune diseases, multiple sclerosis (MS) and type 1 diabetes (T1D). Under the terms of the agreement, Axxam will screen its extensive chemical library to identify compounds that can target specific ion channels in the immune system. Ion channels are tiny pores on the surface of immune cells that control the influx of charged particles and allow the cells to become activated to perform their natural surveillance and protection functions. Recent studies have found that immune cells in MS and T1D contain high levels of a specific ion channel, Kv1.3, and that the hyperactivity of this channel contributes to the dysfunction of the immune system in MS and T1D. If the initial research is successful, Axxam will have identified compounds that modulate Kv1.3 ion channel activities, and these will be further developed by the company as potential therapies for MS and T1D. The agreement with Axxam is the first of its kind between cross-disciplinary patient advocacy organizations and represents a new frontier in which groups such as JDRF and Fast Forward ally to lessen the risk of drug discovery and accelerate the development of new therapies that can impact multi-disorders. Open PDF document

Dompé farmaceutici and Axxam Announce the Extension of Their Drug Discovery and Development Collaboration Dompé farmaceutici SpA and Axxam SpA announced today the renewal of the existing research collaboration for the discovery and development of novel drugs based on GPCRs and ion channel targets. Scientists from both companies will continue their joint programs for the drug discovery process in relevant disease areas. Steps in the process include target biology, target-based screening, medicinal chemistry, pharmacology, and preclinical and clinical development. Dompé will bring expertise in the field of medicinal chemistry, oriented to the rational drug design of small molecular weight GPCRs modulators and in the pre-clinical and clinical development of innovative drugs. Axxam will contribute its expertise in lead discovery programs, based on a long experience in target biology, assay development, a careful selected large compound collection and high-throughput screening with high relevance for the discovery of modulators for GPCRs and ion channels. The number of disease targets, associated therapeutic areas and financial terms of the research collaboration are not disclosed by the companies.

CyBio and Axxam Develop a New System for High Throughput Screening – Expanding Capabilities in Robotic HTS CyBio AG (www.cybio-ag.com), a worldwide leading life science company, and Axxam SpA, a leading discovery company, announce that they have developed, installed and fully validated a new state-of-the-art screening station to be used by Axxam in running hit discovery campaigns with automated luminescence and fluorescence screening systems. The new workstation, which will run in parallel to another CyBio workstation, is a customized, multi-functional automation platform that allows flexible adaptation to different assay conditions using high-density 384 plates. A central CyBi®-Well vario high parallel pipetting system unites two major working areas. Cooled storage system, peeler, sealer and plate heating stations frame the area for compound management. The screening area not only consists of a pipetting system, a dispenser, a washer, high-capacity stacking and incubation devices with lid handling options, but also of two readers, a FLIPRTETRA (Molecular Device) and a PHERAstarPlus (BMG Labtech). They can be used to acquire fluorescent or luminescent readouts, both in cell-based or biochemical assays. All modules are integrated by a Stäubli 6-axis robot and a KiNEDx 4-axis robot that ensure high speed and precision in plate transfers. The system as a whole is controlled by the CyBio® Scheduler software that manages automatic parallelization of processes, consistent system utilization and time uniformity across screening. This results in very high consistency in assay performance and in a throughput that ranges from 35,000 for long acquisition-time readings to 47,000 test points per day. Axxam will benefit from broader access to automated high throughput screening (uHTS) and will consolidate its leading position as an important discovery partner for target-based screening discovery programs.

InterMed Discovery GmbH and Axxam SpA Announce Joint Research Agreement for the Identification of Novel Natural Functional Ingredients InterMed Discovery (IMD), an emerging world class natural product lead-discovery company, and Axxam, a leading discovery company, are pleased to announce that their joint research efforts have proved to be successful in providing a technology platform that offers, in addition to screening solutions, the discovery of natural bioactive compounds. These bioactive compounds are particularly valuable to companies in the food, beverages, flavour and fragrance industries. Based on these results, both companies have therefore signed a second partnership agreement to further combine the expert platforms of IMD and Axxam. The combined technology platform offers an integrated approach to the screening, discovery and profiling of innovative natural sources-derived functional ingredients for various life science applications. The joint research will focus on the mutual discovery and validation of Flavour/Fragrance functional ingredients, which will then be offered to food, beverages, flavour and fragrance companies. The proprietary compounds that are discovered will have clearly defined activity profiles and naturally-derived chemical properties, making them much more valuable to the customers wishing to utilize them.

Axxam awarded substantial funding by the Regione Lombardia (Metadistretti) to support an innovative drug discovery project Axxam announced that a consortium led by Axxam spa has been awarded a grant of EUR 1 million from the Regione Lombardia (Metadistretti) towards a EUR 2.5 million R&D program aimed at identifying and developing innovative Nav 1.7 sodium channel blockers for the treatment of pain. This specific grant is intended to accelerate the development of innovative technologies and products in the local non-food biotechnology cluster (metadistretto). Funds are awarded on the basis of the scientific, technical and economic merit of each proposal. Axxam has applied for funding in order to finance an internal research program aimed at developing new approaches for the identification of drug candidates, based on its proprietary HTS technologies for lead identification. The grant is non-refundable and will cover R&D expenses over a 36 month period. Axxam’s partners in the consortium are Newron Pharmaceuticals spa, a research and development company focused on novel CNS and pain therapies, and Primm srl, a service company focused on several technology platforms, as well as academic groups at the University of Milan Bicocca. Axxam spa, as Project coordinator, will provide its ion channel drug discovery platform, including target expression, proprietary HTS technologies and screening libraries. Newron spa will contribute with its expertise in sodium channel electrophysiology and pain pharmacology, whereas Primm srl will provide its specific expertise in protein expression and peptide chemistry. This substantial financing from the Regione Lombardia provides important support to Axxam’s internal research programmes and business strategy.