Artios links up with Novartis on DDR cancer therapies

UK biotech Artios Pharma Limited (Artios) has entered into a global research collaboration with Swiss pharma giant Novartis (NOVN: VX) to discover and validate next generation DNA damage response (DDR) targets to enhance Novartis’s Radioligand Therapies (RLT).

Under the three-year collaboration, Artios and Novartis will perform target discovery and validation, and Novartis will select up to three exclusive DDR targets, and receive worldwide rights on these targets to be utilized with its RLT’s.

“This collaboration expands the reach of our discovery platform, leveraging our DDR expertise and target knowledge to enhance the potential of radioligand therapies. We are thrilled to work with Novartis, and this combined with our recent collaboration with Merck KGaA, provides important validation of the power of the internal discovery capabilities at Artios. From a strategic perspective, this collaboration is an ideal fit which maximizes the application of our platform to areas beyond our current focus as we independently advance our pipeline of novel DDR candidates,” commented Artios’ chief executive Dr Niall Martin.