Afraxis and Servier collaborate on CNS disorder drug discovery

Privately-held US firm Afraxis and the Institut de Recherches Servier, a part of independent French drugmaker Laboratoires Servier, have entered into a non-exclusive platform collaboration using Afraxis' Enhanced Spine Platform (ESP) Technology for the discovery of drugs to treat central nervous system (CNS) disorders.

Afraxis' ESP Technology rapidly assesses complex neural networks to evaluate preclinical efficacy and safety in CNS disorders. The technology quantifies and characterizes the morphology and maturity of synaptic dendritic spines, which are fundamental to information processing in the brain. Financial terms of the accord have not been disclosed.

Christian de Bodinat, director of CNS R&D at Servier, noted: "The ESP Technology will allow Servier to fully investigate the broad potential of our drug candidates with the aim of bringing novel medicines into the clinic more rapidly and with greater certainty of action. Servier is very active in the field of neurology, with two potential first-in-class compounds in Phase II studies in Alzheimer Disease and five other compounds aimed at treating neurodegenerative diseases in late preclinical stages."