Wednesday, January 04, 2017
Sharp Edge Labs, Inc., a drug discovery and development company focused on diseases involving defective protein trafficking, today announced that it has entered into a drug discovery collaboration agreement with Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma CO., Ltd. ("Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma"), a global pharmaceutical company which designates the Psychiatry & Neurology and the Oncology as focus therapeutic areas of research. As part of the collaboration, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma will make its proprietary compound library available to Sharp Edge Labs for use in their drug discovery platform with a goal of identifying lead compounds and potential development candidates for neurodegenerative disorders.
Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma's library has been specifically chosen to maximize blood-brain barrier penetration, increasing the chances that any small molecule lead discovered in the collaboration will have access to the CNS. Sharp Edge Labs' proprietary biosensor platform will be used to screen for and identify compounds that can correct a trafficking defect known to be involved in several neurodegenerative diseases. Sharp Edge Labs will use their technology to further characterize the cellular mechanism of potential lead compounds including assessing their activity in cells from patients.
"This collaboration takes advantage of the synergy between Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma's expertise in CNS drug discovery and development, and Sharp Edge's unique cellular biosensor technology," said Scott Sneddon, CEO of Sharp Edge Labs. "Defective protein trafficking is a key pathology in neurodegenerative disease, and we're attacking that problem by screening for compounds that correct that fundamental defect," he added.
"This agreement is part of a comprehensive strategy to build a broad portfolio of discovery approaches in areas of great unmet medical need," said Hideyuki Harada, Executive Director of Drug Research Division for Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, "and combines a new discovery technology with our established strengths in discovery and development." Harada added, "This is part of our broad-based strategy of investment in both internal and external innovation."
