Sanofi, AstraZeneca Exchange 210,000 Small Molecules in Open Innovation Model

Sanofi and AstraZeneca have announced a direct exchange of 210,000 compounds from their respective, proprietary compound libraries. The exchange represents an open innovation model of collaboration between two leading pharmaceutical companies. It will enhance the chemical diversity of the compound collections of both companies and allow each company to screen a broader, more diverse chemical space as the starting point in the search for new, small-molecule medicines.

The companies have selected the compounds to exchange based on differences from those previously existing in their own libraries. Chemical structures and synthetic procedures will be shared to facilitate the use of these compounds. The compounds will be exchanged in sufficient quantity to enable the receiving company to carry out high throughput screening (HTS) for several years to determine whether they are active against specific biological targets. If a compound matches a target (a “hit”), it may go through several modifications to optimize its structure before being classified as a “lead compound” and potentially taken forward through development.

There are no payments associated with the exchanged compounds either upfront or in terms of downstream payments in the event that they form the basis of a successful clinical candidate. Each company can investigate the compounds it receives without restrictions on targeted disease areas.

Source: Sanofi and AstraZeneca

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