Grünenthal, KU Leuven’s Centre for Drug Design and Discovery (CD3) and the Laboratory of Ion Channel Research (LICR) announced today that they have entered into a research collaboration for the development of novel non-opioid drug candidates for the treatment of painful diseases with a high unmet medical need.
The partnership builds on lead compounds jointly developed by CD3 and LICR as well as on the know-how of Thomas Voets (LICR) and Joris Vriens (LICR), leading experts in the field of TRP ion channels, who have identified a novel, innovative and potentially pivotal target for non-opioid pain management. Grünenthal will provide its expertise and technical capabilities in pain research and drug development to further optimize the compounds towards novel, innovative first-in-class clinical candidates.
“We are delighted to be part of this collaboration. It is a perfect example of an integrated approach that comprises the capabilities of the academic environment, early drug discovery centers and the pharmaceutical industry to deliver innovative solutions for unmet patient needs”, Klaus-Dieter Langner, Chief Scientific Officer Grünenthal explains. “To leverage the latest approaches in pain research, Grünenthal is strongly committed to initiate close collaborations with the scientific community on early stage R&D projects.”
“There is still a high unmet medical need in pain management. Chronic pain is the most common cause of long-term disability, affecting up to one in three adults at some point of their lifetime. About half of the patients suffering from chronic pain report inadequate pain control with existing treatments,” Thomas Voets, Head LICR said. Patrick Chaltin, Managing Director CD3 added: “The fact that pain is such a widespread health problem has driven us to work with Prof. Voets and Prof. Vriens towards new potential pain treatments based on LICRs innovative science and we are now extremely happy to also join forces with Grünenthal, a leading company in the pain field.”
