Cytochromes P450 (CYP450) are the most significant group of drug-metabolising enzymes in humans. The action of these enzymes is the cause of adverse drug reactions to many marketed drugs and drug-combination therapies and many failures of novel drugs during their development have been attributed to their interactions with this class of enzymes.
The terms of agreement include GSK ‘a paying an up-front fee to Astex in in return for a license under Astex's portfolio of granted and pending cytochrome P450 patents.
According to Leon Bushara, Chief Executive Officer:
"This agreement is another example of Astex's commitment to making its human cytochrome P450 technology available to other companies who could benefit or are already benefiting from its application in the discovery and development of novel drugs with reduced metabolic liabilities.
We expect that the application of Astex's groundbreaking research, which was published in Nature and Science, will benefit many companies' drug discovery and development programmes.”
However, specific financial terms and other details of the license agreement were not disclosed.
Read the full press release.
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