TIDMC4XD
C4X Discovery Holdings PLC
06 December 2018
C4X Discovery collaboration with E-Therapeutics identifies new
pathophysiological mechanisms in Parkinson's disease
Early results point to novel approaches to drug discovery for
this debilitating disease
Manchester and Oxford, UK, 6 December 2018: C4X Discovery
Holdings PLC (C4X.L) ("C4XD") and e-therapeutics plc (AIM: ETX,
"e-therapeutics"), the network-driven drug discovery (NDD) company,
are pleased to announce an update on their collaboration (announced
1st May 2018) to identify novel intervention strategies for the
potential treatment of Parkinson's Disease (PD).
This collaboration has identified additional novel biological
pathways for the treatment of PD and both companies consider that
further work in this area has the potential to transform the
treatment landscape for these patients, where there remains a
significant unmet need.
Craig Fox, Chief Scientific Officer at C4XD, said: "Following
the identification of novel drug targets for the treatment of PD
from the direct findings from our Taxonomy3(R) platform we
recognise there still remains untapped potential in this
proprietary analysis. By working with the team at e-therapeutics
and utilising their NDD platform, we have been able to access
cutting-edge mathematical and data analysis techniques to augment
and interrogate the vast amount of biological information currently
available in both public and private databases. This combination
has identified additional novel biological pathways for the
treatment of PD and we look forward to moving these findings
forward to initiate new drug discovery programmes."
Alan Whitmore, Head of Discovery Biology at e-therapeutics,
said: "The initial results from this collaboration highlight the
critical importance of considering biology in a network context to
gain insights into clinically relevant biological mechanisms in
complex disease. The ability to link genetic data to disease
mechanism remains one of the greatest challenges of our industry.
By using the advanced computational analytics of our NDD platform,
we have been able to confirm the centrality of a number of known
mechanisms in PD and, importantly, identify potential new ones.
This in turn, opens up the prospect of new approaches to the
discovery of effective novel drugs to tackle this and other
undertreated, debilitating conditions."
Further details of the collaboration
PD is a progressive neurological disease which affects up to 10
million people worldwide and incidence is increasing as the global
population ages. Whilst to date some PD drivers have been
identified, this has not resulted in any novel therapies.
C4XD's proprietary genetic target discovery technology
Taxonomy3(R) has found multiple novel disease-associated genes in
Parkinson's Disease (PD) in addition to identifying discrete
patient sub-groups that could potentially provide an opportunity in
stratified medicine. It has been estimated that selecting
genetically supported drug targets should double the success rate
of investigational new drugs in clinical development. These genetic
discoveries provide a significant opportunity to uncover biological
processes central to the causation and progression of disease.
e-therapeutics proprietary Network-Driven Drug Discovery (NDD)
approach has been applied to this unique and rich dataset. Using
e-therapeutics' cutting-edge technology, harnessing the latest
mathematical and data analysis techniques to augment and
interrogate this complex biological information, the study analysed
approximately 200 PD-associated genes identified by C4XD's
Taxonomy3 genomics platform.
Initial results derived using the advanced computational
analytics of the e-therapeutics NDD platform have identified novel
potential pathophysiological mechanisms relevant to PD as well as
highlighting known mechanisms. The implications of these insights
are now being explored further and suggest a number of novel
intervention strategies that could be taken forward using ETX's NDD
approach as well as providing another basis on which to select
targets derived directly from C4XD's Taxonomy3(R) platform.
Ultimately this approach might yield new drugs to treat this
debilitating disease.
Importantly, the combination of network aware approaches and
genetic target discovery has identified novel relevant biological
pathways and processes that when targeted may subsequently address
the pathophysiological phenotype. Key to this is the ability of the
network perspective to tie together complex genetic information.
This leads us to believe that the synergistic power of NDD with
direct genetic findings will lead to new disease insights and
identification of better treatments for PD.
Both C4XD and e-therapeutics believe their Taxonomy3(R) and NDD
platform approaches are particularly relevant to diseases with
poorly or partially characterised genetic predispositions,
including PD, Alzheimer's, and inflammatory disorders such as
multiple sclerosis. Both companies consider that further work in
this area has the potential to transform the treatment landscape
for these disorders, where there remains a significant unmet
need.
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
C4X Discovery Holdings plc
Clive Dix, Chief Executive Officer 07801 865 803
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (NOMAD and Broker) 020 7886 2500
Freddy Crossley, Emma Earl (Corporate Finance)
Consilium Strategic Communications
Mary-Jane Elliott, Chris Gardner, Matthew Neal
0203 709 5700
About C4X Discovery
C4X Discovery aims to become the world's most productive drug
discovery engine by exploiting cutting edge technologies to design
and create best-in-class small-molecule candidates targeting a
range of high value therapeutic areas. The company's goal is to
drive returns through early-stage revenue-generating deals with the
pharmaceutical industry.
C4X Discovery has a state-of-the-art suite of proprietary
technologies across the drug discovery process. The company's
innovative DNA-based target identification platform (Taxonomy3(R))
utilises human genetic datasets to identify novel patient-specific
targets leading to greater discovery productivity and increased
probability of clinical success. This is complemented by C4XD's
novel drug design platform which comprises two innovative chemistry
technologies, Conformetrix and Molplex, that combine 4D molecular
shape analyses (based on experimental data) with best-in-class
computational chemistry. This provides new and unprecedented
insight into the behaviour of drug molecules, enabling the
production of potent selective compounds faster and more cost
effectively than the industry standard.
C4X Discovery is advancing its in-house pipeline that is
primarily focused on the high value therapeutic areas of
inflammation, neurodegeneration and cancer (including
immuno-oncology) with a number of new drug candidates identified
and further progress made towards the pre-clinical licensing
discussions. In selecting new targets and executing new drug
discovery programmes, C4X Discovery focuses on high-value disease
areas that are the subject of significant licensing activity and
will continue to also maximise value from opportunistic areas such
as addiction and diabetes. The Company recently signed a licensing
agreement with Indivior for a pre-clinical addiction programme
worth up to $294m.
The Company was founded as a spin-out from the University of
Manchester. It has a highly experienced management team and Board
who have delivered significant value creation within the healthcare
sector historically and have enabled C4XD to reach multiple value
inflexion points since IPO. For additional information please go
to: www.c4xdiscovery.com
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END
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