Eudendron: an Innovative Biotech Start-up

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1 Eudendron: an Innovative Biotech Start-up Mauro Angiolini & Fabio Zuccotto I Venti dell Innovazione, Ville Ponti - Varese, 20 Marzo 2013 Bioindustry Park S. Fumero (Ivrea) - Italy

2 Eudendron: a Quick Description 1 Eudendron Srl has been founded in July 2012 in Italy with Legal Office in Varese and Operational Office at Bioindustry Park S. Fumero (Ivrea) Founders are Mauro Angiolini PhD and Fabio Zuccotto PhD both having deep experience in Oncology Drug Discovery Eudendron is a Biotech Start-up dedicated to the development of a new generation of Kinase Inhibitors based on innovative molecular designs New treatments for Oncology Personalized Medicine and generation of innovative Intellectual Property are major targets of Eudendron Research activities In January 2013 Eudendron has started Medicinal Chemistry activities in collaboration with Università degli Studi di Milano

3 Eudendron: a Quick Description Eudendron is extremely interested in collaboration with Academic or Industrial Partners working in the field of Kinase inhibitors drug discovery with special focus on projects co-development compounds activity profiling business development support to external Drug Discovery projects Eudendron gained in February 13 the label Start-up Innovativa Eudendron is Member of biopmed, the Italian Innovation Cluster of Life Sciences financed by Regione Piemonte within the framework of European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) 2

4 Eudendron: a Quick Description In house Company activities: New molecules design In silico validation Synthetic chemistry set-up Outsourcedand CollaborativeCompany activities: Chemical synthesis of designed molecules In vitro / in vivo testing of synthesized molecules ADME/PK evaluation Patent filing 3

5 Eudendron s Research Focus: Protein Kinases and Cancer Protein Kinases are a well established and validated target family for Oncology Targeted Therapy There are 518 different kinases in the human body. So far 20 Kinase inhibitors have been approved by FDA with a successful therapeutic and market impact on leukemia and lung cancer At the moment Eudendron is running Medicinal Chemistry activities focusing on a target involved in oncogene addiction Milestones of started Project are the identification of selective Inhibitors and their Intellectual Properties protection 4

6 Eudendron s Mission Within five year from inception: Become a key player for the development of a new generation of Kinase Inhibitors for Oncology Targeted Therapies with a favourable preclinical profile Create synergy, efficiency, time and cost saving in the identification of lead compounds by deploying an innovative development strategy Build a sustainable product pipeline and create value for Investors 5

7 Kinases Inhibitors: Business & Market Opportunities Within the Targeted Therapies era Kinase Inhibitors will represent a strategic area of investments. Global market of Kinase targeted drugs is expected to grow by 18% a year to $35 billions by 2013 Research programs are gradually licensed at an earlier stage (preclinical and Phase I) Kinases projects are currently one of the most active deal making field. Major Pharma players are actively pursuing deals Patent cliff of Pharmaceutical Companies is opening a new area of business with Small Biotechs playing a crucial role 6

8 Protein Kinase Inhibitors: Success & Issues In the last decade 20 Kinase inhibitors have been approved as therapeutics but two common issues often emerged: Lack of selectivity associated to an increased risk of severe side effects like cardiotoxycity, bleeding and pulmonary hypertension Insurgence of resistance phenomenon inducing the failure of cancer therapeutic treatment Need of a new generation of Kinase Inhibitors 7 Leukemia (2001) Leukemia (2006) Lung cancer (2011)

9 Eudendron s Approach: KemKinase Platform Eudendron Kinase Inhibitors discovery process is based on KemKinase Chemistry Platform KemKinase combines innovative cutting edge molecular designs developed to generate IP free and safe (i.e. selective) Kinase inhibitors with a Kinome-wide strategy to maximise chemistry potential and synergy The KemKinase output are lead-like molecules No screening libraries nor HTS campaigns are required 8

10 Eudendron s Approach: KemKinase Platform KemKinase approach allows to significantly reduce drug development time lowering R&D costs and increasing the lifespan of discovered drugs KemKinase specific design strategies and know-how address the emerged issues related to mutations causing drug resistance and sub-optimal selectivity profile (offtargets side effects) A portfolio of innovative core chemical scaffolds providing the proper starting points for Medicinal Chemistry activities have already been designed by the Team 9

11 Eudendron s Funding Requirements SEED FUNDING (12 months). About 500K to generate a first round of results (chemical classes, Kinome activity profiling, IP generation) as tests cases to support a Round A funding effort Financial resources would be used for outsourcing chemistry activities, biochemical and cellular assays, preclinical characterization of best compounds, patent filing, business development Drug candidate (IND) 10

12 Why KemKinase Does Make Eudendron Different The validated Company process will considerably shorten timeline for the identification of lead molecules to be developed Specific designs on novel scaffolds will modulate inhibitors selectivity profiles reducing toxicity related liabilities Focus on targets associated to specific patients population speeding-up clinical development Compelling issue of resistance causing mutations of marketed drugs will be addressed by Eudendron specific molecular designs 11