Author name: ASolia

Axxam executes a transaction with Acousia Therapeutics GmbH December, 14th 2016 – Axxam is proud to announce the closing of a transaction with Acousia Therapeutics GmbH, by which Axxam becomes a shareholder of Acousia and Dr. Stefan Lohmer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Axxam, joins the Board of Directors of the company. The new investment round of EUR 2.5 million, led by the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and supported by  Axxam and the KfW, will finance research programs directed towards the development of small molecules to treat sensorineural hearing loss and protecting sensory hair cells of the inner ear to prevent hearing loss in at-risk patients. In connection with this new investment Axxam will also transfer certain therapeutic assets to the R&D programs of Acousia. For more info please open the Press Release from Acousia. Open PDF Document

Axxam and Mercachem Sign a Strategic Alliance for Integrated Drug Discovery Services Milan (Italy) and Nijmegen (The Netherlands) – September 8th 2016 – Axxam, a leading drug discovery company with expertise in early phase discovery biology, and Mercachem, a leading discovery chemistry company with expertise in both medicinal and process chemistry, announce a strategic alliance to provide integrated discovery services spanning all phases from gene to fully optimized leads and beyond. This partnership will allow the companies to offer best-in-class fully integrated drug discovery services, supported by a culture of scientific excellence and innovation. Open PDF Document

Axxam SpA expands to U.S., opens office in Cambridge, Mass. May 19th, 2016 – Axxam SpA (Milan/Italy), a privately owned innovative Partner Research Organization (iPRO) with a strong and leading expertise for the identification and characterization of bioactive compounds, announced today the opening of its first U.S. office, located in the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC) in Cambridge, Mass. Open PDF Document

Axxam SpA expands to U.S., opens office in Cambridge, Mass. Grünenthal capitalizes on Axxam’s drug discovery platform and expertise to identify small molecule lead structures for its early pipeline in pain and inflammation Aachen, Germany and Milano, Italy, March 3, 2016: Grünenthal and Axxam announced today that they have entered into an integrated collaboration. The objective is to discover novel small molecule lead structures for the development of pain and inflammation therapeutics by combining Axxam’s drug discovery platform with Grünenthal’s expertise on emerging and innovative biological pathways and targets. Open PDF Document

Axxam and the NEOMED Institute to Collaborate on the Discovery and Development of a Novel Drug to Treat Metabolic Diseases Montreal (Canada) and Milan (Italy) – February 18, 2016 – Axxam SpA, a leading discovery company with expertise in target biology and a broad range of early phase discovery solutions and NEOMED Institute, a public-private organization dedicated to drug discovery and the development of therapeutics up to human proof of concept, announced today that they have entered into a strategic drug discovery partnership. The aim of the collaboration is to identify and develop novel small molecule agonists of FFA4 (also known as GPR120) linked to a range of metabolic and inflammatory diseases. Several preclinical studies and human genetics data support the development of a GPR120 agonist as a highly differentiated treatment of diabetes with potential to impact a number of parameters, including protection of the pancreatic β-cells. Open PDF Document

Axxam and the Neurodegeneration Consortium at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center collaborate on a novel approach to Alzheimer’s disease research Axxam SpA (Milan/Italy) announced today that it has entered into a research collaboration with the Neurodegeneration Consortium (NDC) at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MD Anderson). The aim of the collaboration is to identify and develop novel small molecule modulators of an undisclosed G-protein coupled receptor linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Open Pdf Document

Axxam executes agreement with NYU Langone Medical Center for the provision of drug discovery services October 14th, 2015 – Axxam SpA (Milan/Italy), a leading provider of discovery services has entered into a multi-year agreement with the Office of Therapeutics Alliances (OTA) of NYU Langone Medical Center (New York, US) to provide drug discovery expertise to advance their innovative pipeline of therapeutic programs. OTA is a drug discovery accelerator that provides resources to NYU Langone scientists to help translate their laboratory research into therapeutic discovery and a formal path towards the development of novel, FDA-approved drugs. Open Pdf Document

Axxam SpA enters into a collaboration agreement with Bayer HealthCare for the provision of Drug Discovery Services July 21st, 2015 – Axxam SpA (Milan/Italy), a leading provider of discovery services has entered into a multi-year collaboration agreement with Bayer HealthCare (Bayer), a global pharmaceutical company. The aim of this collaboration is to provide high level services to support Bayer’s strong commitment to discover new therapies for diseases with high unmet medical need. Open Pdf Document

Axxam enters into a research collaboration with The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center for Assay Development and High Throughput Screening of selected targets in oncology June 18th, 2015 – Axxam SpA (Milan/Italy), a leading provider of discovery services, has entered into a multi-year collaboration with the Institute for Applied Cancer Science (IACS) at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MD Anderson).  The aim of the collaboration is to identify lead chemical matters against novel oncology targets provided by MD Anderson. The collaboration leverages Axxam’s expertise in assay development, Axxam’s fully automated screening platforms and access to Axxam’s novel compound collection AxxDiv2.0. The collaboration builds on a strong working relationship between Axxam and MD Anderson. Open PDF document

Axxam announces the appointment of Dr. Russell Thomas as Director of Discovery Research May 4th, 2015 – Axxam SpA (Milan/Italy), a privately owned contract research and discovery company, announced today that Dr. Russell Thomas has joined the company as Director of Discovery Research. Russell brings to Axxam considerable industry experience that spans from target discovery to clinical proof of concept at Siena Biotech, Proteros, Evotec and GlaxoWellcome. Russell is joining Axxam from Siena Biotech, where he was initially head of Medicinal Chemistry, before becoming Director of Project Operations and External Alliances and more recently General Manager. In these various roles Russell guided a range of neuroscience and oncology projects from initial hit validation and subsequent optimization, leading to a number of preclinical and clinical candidates. He is one of the inventors of selisistat, which is currently progressing through clinical trials as a potential disease modifying approach to Huntington’s disease. During his time at Proteros, in the role of Vice President of Lead Discovery, Russell had strategic responsibility for all existing and potential new collaborations with pharmaceutical and biotech partners and played a key role in the start-up of Rodin Therapeutics with Atlas Venture. At Evotec, as a Department Head in Medicinal Chemistry, Russell was responsible for guiding a range of discovery alliances with international pharmaceutical and biotech companies. These alliances led to the delivery of a number of preclinical and clinical candidates. In the seven years that Russell spent at Glaxo, subseqently GlaxoWellcome, he worked as a senior medicinal chemist, mainly in the field of antibacterials. Originally from Swansea in Wales, he obtained a Ph.D in synthetic organic chemistry in the group of Prof. Stan Roberts at Exeter University, after graduating in Chemistry from the University of Kent. Open PDF document