Oncodesign and Bristol-Myers ink strategic drug discovery collaboration

French biotech firm Oncodesign (Alternext: ALONC) has entered into a strategic collaboration agreement with US pharma major Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) to discover, develop and commercialize novel macrocyclic compounds.

The collaboration is based on Oncodesign’s platform of small macrocycles, Nanocyclix, and will also engage the advanced oncology pharmacology models at Oncodesign for cancer applications, Predict, Chi-mice and Pharmimage. The collaboration will potentially include multiple therapeutic areas and involve phenotypic cell-based approaches.

"This strategic collaboration is by far the largest one we have entered into up to now; it will allow us to fully exploit the potential of our technology platforms in both chemistry and biology," says Oncodesign chief executive Philippe Genne. The company does, however, have significant collaborations with France’s Sanofi and Belgium’s UCB.