Inpharmatica Announces Agreement with Biotica Technology to Provide Comprehensive ADME Support to Their Natural Products Programmes
Inpharmatica Ltd. has entered into a two year ADME service agreement with Biotica Technology Ltd, a drug discovery company specialising in developing bioengineered polyketides from actinomycete bacteria.
Under the agreement, Inpharmatica will provide Biotica with a full suite of ADME services spanning in vitro ADME screening, analysis and interpretation of ADME data to ADME lead optimisation consultancy. This agreement demonstrates the wide applicability of Inpharmatica’s services to aid the progression of drug discovery programmes, including those employing natural products. Working with Inpharmatica, Biotica aims to develop novel rapamycin analogues and other anti-proliferatives with optimal pharmacokinetic properties. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Polyketides represent a structurally diverse set of natural products that provide an unusually rich source of commercially significant, biologically active compounds. The world-wide sales of polyketide-derived pharmaceuticals exceeds $17 bn and covers a range of therapeutic applications including anti-bacterials, anti-fungals, immunosuppressants, anti-hyperlipidaemics, anti-cancer and anti-parasitics. Biotica’s technology is capable of generating novel polyketide structures which are inaccessible by other methods.
Commenting on the announcement, Dr Mike Tarbit, Senior VP of Preclinical R & D, at Inpharmatica said, “We are delighted to be entering into a relationship with Biotica, an exciting company spun out of Cambridge University. This agreement illustrates the increasing recognition of Inpharmatica’s ADME expertise in all areas of drug discovery, including non-small molecule natural products. Our ADME group is structured to provide fully flexible solutions to meet the increasing need for effective compound design and lead optimisation in small biotech companies through to large pharma.”
Dr Michael Hayes, Executive Chairman at Biotica, said, “Inpharmatica provides Biotica with a flexible approach to providing comprehensive ADME support which will aid progression of our novel natural products through lead optimisation. Working with Inpharmatica, we are able to access valuable expertise and current technology cost effectively. This will assist Biotica to exploit the unique and exciting discovery opportunities offered by our proprietary technology rapidly and efficiently.”