Contact Information: For further information, please contact: SCYNEXIS, Inc. Terry Marquardt Executive Director, Market Development Tel: 1-919-544-8603 SCYNEXIS Media Contacts: Sarah Cavanaugh MacDougal Biomedical Communications 781-235-3060 Rick Rountree Rick Rountree Communications, Inc. 919-878-1144 DNDi Sadia Kaenzig DNDi, Geneva +41 (0)79 819 99 71 Michelle French DNDi North America (212) 298-3743 or (646) 552-4600
SCYNEXIS and DNDi Extend Collaboration to Identify Drug Candidates to Treat Sleeping Sickness
| Source: SCYNEXIS, INC.
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC and GENEVA--(Marketwire - December 11, 2008) - SCYNEXIS, Inc. and
Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) announced today that they
have extended their collaboration on vital drug discovery research and
development of affordable and effective therapies for human African
trypanosomiasis (also known as sleeping sickness) for an additional three
years. Sleeping sickness is one of the most devastating diseases in
sub-Saharan Africa.
"SCYNEXIS believes that this collaborative project approach with DNDi can
play an important role in improving the discovery and development of new
therapies for neglected diseases," said SCYNEXIS President & CEO Yves
Ribeill. "We are pleased with the progress this alliance has achieved to
date and look forward to continuing to apply our expertise in drug
discovery and development to identify new drug candidates to treat sleeping
sickness."
A fatal disease if not treated, human African trypanosomiasis threatens
more than 50 million people in 36 countries. Currently, few drugs exist for
the treatment of either Stage 1 or Stage 2 human African trypanosomiasis
and severe toxic side effects are a common problem. The difficulty of
diagnosis, stage determination and increasing numbers of treatment failures
pose additional clinical challenges.
The project between SCYNEXIS and DNDi was initiated in 2006 and will now
run through March of 2012. The collaboration includes partners at Pace
University networked through the HEOS® software collaboration platform.
The goal of this project is to progress molecules proven to be safe and
active against HAT parasites in early-stage screening research through the
first steps of regulatory safety assessment in the preclinical phase.
Dr. Shing Chang R&D, Director of DNDi, added that "the partnership of
SCYNEXIS and DNDi provides a critical catalyst in the development of drugs
to treat human African trypanosomiasis by mobilizing the best scientific
resources to address the needs of the most neglected patients."
About SCYNEXIS
SCYNEXIS is a premier drug discovery and development company delivering
effective and innovative drug pipeline solutions to pharmaceutical and
global health partners. The Company, which is located in Research Triangle
Park, North Carolina, is also focused on developing a proprietary internal
pipeline based on cyclophilin inhibitors, a class of drugs that hold
significant potential for the treatment of a broad range of diseases.
Please visit our website at www.scynexis.com.
About HEOS®
The HEOS® software suite is a comprehensive, web-based drug research
information management software that supports geographically distributed
scientists and facilitate collaboration.
The complex process of transforming a hit into a clinical candidate
involves data generated by a broad range of sources. The success of the
project relies on the capability of the partners to easily, securely and
efficiently access, share and communicate the right information at the
right time. HEOS® is a web portal that provides a secure and
user-friendly data handling system. It allows all the involved
collaborators to view results and make informed decisions.
About DNDi
The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) is an independent,
not-for-profit product development partnership working to research and
develop new and improved treatments for neglected diseases such as malaria,
leishmaniasis, human African trypanosomiasis, and Chagas disease. With the
objective to address unmet patient needs for these diseases, DNDi was
established in 2003 by Institut Pasteur and Médecins Sans Frontières along
with four publicly-funded research organizations in neglected
disease-endemic countries. Working in partnership with industry and
academia, DNDi has the largest ever R&D portfolio for the kinetoplastid
diseases and currently has 6 clinical and 4 preclinical projects. DNDi
delivered its first product, a fixed-dose antimalarial "ASAQ," in
partnership with
sanofi-aventis in 2007. In April 2008, DNDi delivered its second product,
fixed-dose
"ASMQ," with Farmanguinhos as first-line treatment for children and adults
suffering from uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria cases in Latin America
and Asia.
For further information, please consult www.dndi.org