Axxam signs up for CNS collaboration with French pharma major

Italian biotech firm Axxam has announced the start of a research collaboration with French pharma major Sanofi (Euronext: SAN) designed to further optimize a number of lead series of small molecules targeted against a range of diseases of the central nervous system (CNS).

The program, initiated at Axxam via a High Throughput Screen (HTS) of the Axxam small-molecule screening library, yielded a number of tractable hit series. Subsequent multi-parameter optimization identified potent and selective molecules with high CNS exposures and showed promising results in disease-relevant pharmacology models.

Following an initial evaluation phase in-house, Sanofi and Axxam will continue the program under a joint research agreement with activities to be carried out at Axxam and Sanofi research facilities. If successful, Sanofi has an option to enter into a subsequent licensing agreement based on the research.