Oncodesign and Ipsen enter into a strategic partnership in oncology and Oncodesign joins Ipsen’s Paris-Saclay Campus

On May 3, 2016 ONCODESIGN (Alternext: ALONC) and Ipsen (Euronext: IPN; ADR: IPSEY) reported that they have entered into a strategic partnership in oncology (Press release, Ipsen, MAY 3, 2016, View Source [SID:1234511801]).

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Under this new agreement, Oncodesign will handle pre-clinical pharmacology for Ipsen’s oncology research programs. In addition, some of Oncodesign’s teams are moving to Ipsen’s largest R&D center at the Paris-Saclay hub, putting them at the heart of an ecosystem made up of research scientists, leading educational institutions, research facilities and cutting-edge industrial groups. For the past 20 years, Oncodesign and Ipsen have worked together on R&D projects based on a service and co-development relationship, before sealing a drug discovery partnership in 2012.

Claude Bertrand, Ipsen’s Executive Vice-President, R&D and Chief Scientific Officer, said: "Ipsen has decided to locate its three R&D centers at the heart of the world’s top competitiveness clusters in the life sciences industry (Paris-Saclay in France, Oxford in the United Kingdom, and Cambridge in the United States) to step up the pace of discovery of innovative new drugs." Christophe Thurieau, Ipsen Innovation’s Senior Vice-President, Worldwide Scientific Affairs, added: "This partnership with Oncodesign fits perfectly with the development of Ipsen’s new R&D model, in which our Paris-Saclay platform will become a private open innovation campus. Oncodesign has renowned expertise in oncology, and we are delighted to have them join us at our Innovation Campus."

"Oncodesign is honored to have been chosen as a key strategic partner of Ipsen. This is testimony to the innovative nature of the technologies we have been developing for several years", stated Philippe Genne, CEO of Oncodesign. "Oncodesign has long been involved in the development of new economic and social models that meet the current and future challenges raised by innovation in the life sciences. Directly in keeping with our collective commitment within AFSSI1 , we are proud to be able to play our part in accelerating the development of Ipsen’s innovation campus in Paris-Saclay. This new concept aims to foster innovation by bringing together organizations with different cultures. Oncodesign will also gain access to new skills and expertise critical for the development of new therapies, including in pharmacology and the development of biomarkers."

Ipsen will use experimental models and new pharmacological approaches based on Oncodesign’s pharmaco-imaging and the detection of biomarkers. This new partnership represents a shift from a collaborative model that has already proven its value to a more extensive collaboration over a renewable 5-year term through the creation of a joint research team based both at Ipsen’s Les Ulis facility and Oncodesign’s facility in Dijon.

As part of this collaboration, Oncodesign will receive a minimum guaranteed annual fee to cover the cost of its research efforts at Les Ulis and of its Dijon platform, to which variable payments, linked to business volumes generated by Ipsen’s programs, may be added.