Servier and Oncodesign Announce the Selection of a Preclinical Candidate as Part of Their Collaboration Targeting New Treatments for Parkinson’s Disease - Seite 2

“The selection of this drug candidate in collaboration with Servier reaffirms the pertinence of our Nanocyclix technology, already demonstrated with the RIPK2 inhibitor candidate developed by Oncodesign, for kinase targets that are notoriously complex and innovative”, explained Philippe Genne, Ph.D., Chairman, CEO and founder of Oncodesign. “We are particularly pleased with, and proud of, these results obtained in collaboration with Servier, a longstanding and major partner of our company since its creation and are confident in their ability to make the best use of this program’s substantial potential”.

Ross Jeggo, Global Head of Neurology and Immunoinflammation Therapeutic Area at Servier, stated: “This intense and fruitful collaboration with Oncodesign underlines the synergistic nature of our two companies’ experiences and approaches, which has enabled the rapid identification of a preclinical candidate and a number of follow-up compounds; we are very proud of this partnership. The next step is the regulatory toxicology phase, which we will begin shortly, after which we anticipate our first Phase I clinical trial in 2022. Parkinson’s disease is an important part of our strategic focus, with a huge medical need and for which there are no disease progression-slowing treatments currently available. LRRK2 inhibition is a potentially disruptive mechanism that could impact and slow this progression, representing a very important hope for millions of patients worldwide”.

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About Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the most widespread neurodegenerative disorder responsible for motor disorders, affecting 1% of people aged 65 years old and over². Between 100,000 and 120,000 people are affected in total in France, with 8,000 new cases every year³. Clinical symptoms are progressive: slowness of movement, tremor, stiffness. PD is characterized by a gradual loss of dopaminergic neurons and an accumulation of the α–synuclein protein in the brain. Current treatments are based on dopamine replacement therapy to offset the dopamine neuronal loss and reduce motor disorders, which is moderately effective but does not stop or even slow the neurodegenerative process. At present, there are no proven neuroprotective or neurorestorative therapies. Modifying the disease’s progression is thus the main objective of the research and development of new PD treatments today.