Collaboration with Pfizer terminated
Saniona, a leading biotech company within ion-channel research, today announces that their research collaboration within neurological diseases with Pfizer Inc. has been terminated. Saniona maintains the rights to continue the program.
Pfizer has made the decision to terminate the research collaboration with Saniona.
“We regret that Pfizer has taken the decision to terminate the program after a recent merger between its pain and neuroscience operations in the UK and the US. Although disappointing, it is not unusual that corporate restructuring leads to termination of external collaboration programs,” says Jørgen Drejer, CEO of Saniona.
“Pfizer has been a good partner and together we have advanced the program. The research program has progressed significantly over the past one and half years. Saniona and Pfizer have synthesized and screened numerous compounds. These activities have resulted in the demonstration of efficacy in in vivo animal studies.”
“Saniona will maintain the rights to the program in the future. It is a very innovative program, which has the potential to open up new treatment opportunities within neurological diseases. We intend to pursue the establishment of a partnership with another pharmaceutical company for the program. The achievement of preclinical proof of principle together with a pathway to identification of a new development candidate is expected to create significant interest among potential partners.”
The termination of the collaboration agreement means that Saniona will not receive additional revenues under this collaboration. The expected income for the second half of 2015 will consequently be approximately SEK 6 million lower than previously anticipated.
“We are constantly working on making new deals and partnerships. Our strong and broad pipeline of projects has attracted significant interest from a number of players in the industry. Therefore, we maintain a positive view of our partnership model.”
For more information, please contact
Thomas Feldthus, EVP and CFO, Saniona, Mobile: +45 2210 9957, E-mail: tf@saniona.com
About Saniona
Saniona is a research and development company focused on drugs for diseases of the central nervous system, autoimmune diseases, metabolic diseases and treatment of pain. The company has a significant portfolio of potential drug candidates at pre-clinical and clinical stage. The research is focused on ion channels, which makes up a unique protein class that enables and controls the passage of charged ions across cell membranes. Saniona has an ongoing collaboration agreement with Saniona’s Boston based spinout Ataxion Inc., which is financed by Atlas Venture Inc. and Biogen Idec Inc. Saniona is based in Copenhagen, Denmark, where it has a research center of high international standard and 18 employees. Saniona is listed at AktieTorget since April 2014 and has about 2,000 shareholders. The company’s share is traded under the ticker SANION. Read more at www.saniona.com.