Lundbeck enters into drug discovery collaboration with Zenobia and Vernalis

H. Lundbeck A/S announced that it has signed agreements with Zenobia Therapeutics (Zenobia) and Vernalis plc (Vernalis) which will provide Lundbeck with access to know-how relevant for making inhibitors for Leucine-rich repeat kinases. Lundbeck will collaborate with Zenobia and utilize Zenobia’s expertise in protein expression and x-ray crystallography for the LRRK2 target. Under the agreement, Zenobia will complete x-ray crystal structures of wild-type and a Parkinson’s disease associated mutant in complex with Lundbeck lead compounds. Zenobia retains all rights and ownership of the LRRK2 structure and to their internal LRRK2 chemistry program. The financial terms of this collaboration are not disclosed.

Peter Høngaard Andersen, Executive Vice President, Research Management at Lundbeck said, These collaborations are important supplements to Lundbeck’s commitment to provide new innovative medicines in the CNS field in areas with high unmet needs. They represent another step in Lundbeck’s new R&D strategy to ensure we have the most efficient platform for the future discovery and development of drugs that will be able to help and treat biologically defined groups of patients with brain diseases. It is this type of drugs we expect will be in demand in the future.