Esteve links with academia for neuropathic pain targets

Privately-held Spanish drugmaker Esteve has announced the RIBOPAIN project, which aims to identify new therapeutic solutions for pain and to develop more effective drugs in collaboration with the Neuropharmacology Group-Neurophar at Pompeu Fabra University (UPF).

The aim of RIBOPAIN is the identification and preclinical validation of drug targets with innovative mechanisms of action for the treatment of neuropathic pain. Beyond the traditional approach to the search for therapeutic targets involved in modulating nerve transmission, the researchers are focusing their search on specific cell populations. To do so, they will employ a highly novel genetic approach in rodent models.

The initiative has received funding in the Retos-Colaboración 2017 call by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.

Its principal investigator and scientific coordinator will be José Miguel Vela, director of drug discovery and preclinical development at Esteve, while for the Neuropharmacology Lab, Rafael Maldonado and Miquel Martin will be the principal investigators.

Based on the results obtained by UPF, Esteve will carry out the synthesis of new compounds with analgesic potential, specific for the new genetic drug targets, as well as their subsequent development. One of the key elements of the project is the differentiation and competitive advantages of the new therapeutic approaches over the existing ones, by comparison with known benchmark analgesics, both in terms of efficacy and safety.

The Retos-Colaboración call supports initiatives involving cooperation between companies and research bodies in order to promote the development of new technologies, the business application of new ideas and techniques, and to contribute to the creation of new products and services.