Bristol-Myers
Squibb (NYSE:BMY) and Syngene International, India’s largest
contract research organization, today announced a five-year extension of
their drug discovery and development collaboration in India. Financial
terms were not disclosed.
Since 2007, Bristol-Myers Squibb has been working with Syngene and its
corporate parent, Biocon Ltd., to develop integrated capabilities in
medicinal and process chemistry, biology, biotechnology, biomarkers,
drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, analytical research, and
pharmaceutical development at the Biocon Bristol-Myers Squibb Research
Center (BBRC) in Bangalore.
The U.S.-India collaboration has produced six drug candidates for
further study and also helped Bristol-Myers Squibb reduce the time and
costs associated with advancing new compounds to first-in-human studies.
One drug candidate currently in clinical trials was discovered at BBRC
and early nonclinical development work done at BBRC has enabled most of
Bristol-Myers Squibb’s small molecule assets to advance to later stages
of development over the last five years.
Commenting on the new agreement, Peter Bains, director, Syngene
International, said: “We are extremely delighted to extend our discovery
and development partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb for another five
years. This extension reflects the strength of our existing
collaboration which has delivered many successful outcomes. The scope of
Syngene’s engagement has expanded to encompass a broad range of
integrated service offerings across the drug discovery and development
continuum. We remain committed to supporting Bristol-Myers Squibb in
their pursuit of developing new and innovative medicines for the future.”
Francis
Cuss, executive vice president and chief scientific officer,
Bristol-Myers Squibb, said: “I am excited about the opportunity to
continue our highly productive collaboration with Biocon and Syngene.
The BBRC has supported the nonclinical development of a large proportion
of our small-molecule portfolio assets since its inception, and is a
premier example of the high-quality innovative drug hunting that is
taking place in India today.”
Bristol-Myers Squibb and Syngene jointly developed the BBRC at Biocon
Park in Bangalore. Over the years, BBRC has become Bristol-Myers
Squibb’s largest research and development center outside the United
States, housing more than 400 scientists.
About Bristol-Myers Squibb
Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission
is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help
patients prevail over serious diseases. For more information, please
visit www.bms.com
or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bmsnews/.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Forward-Looking Statement
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” as that term is
defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
regarding the research, development and commercialization of
pharmaceutical products. Such forward-looking statements are based on
current expectations and involve inherent risks and uncertainties,
including factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, and
could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially from
current expectations. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed.
Among other risks, there can be no guarantee that the compounds
mentioned in this release will move into full product development, that
the clinical trials of these compounds will support regulatory filings,
that these compounds will receive regulatory approval or, if approved,
that they will become commercially successful products. Forward-looking
statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the
many uncertainties that affect Bristol-Myers Squibb's business,
particularly those identified in the cautionary factors discussion in
Bristol-Myers Squibb's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2013, in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and our Current
Reports on Form 8-K. Bristol-Myers Squibb undertakes no obligation to
publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of
new information, future events or otherwise.
About Syngene International
Syngene, a subsidiary of Biocon Ltd, is India's leading contract
research organization offering integrated drug discovery and development
services with capabilities in medicinal chemistry, biology, in vivo
pharmacology, toxicology, custom synthesis, process Research and
Development, and formulation development for small and large molecules.
Syngene has an expert team of over 2,300 scientists and 1 million sq.
ft. of built-up laboratories equipped with state-of-the-art
infrastructure to support the Research and Development programs of
global pharma, biotech and nutrition companies. More information is
available at www.syngeneintl.com.
Copyright Business Wire 2014