Abbott is teaming up with Danish firm EpiTherapeutics to develop small molecule inhibitors targeting epigenetic cancer targets. The three-year research collaboration will be carried out at both firms and exploit EpiTherapeutics’ expertise in the epigenetics field.
EpiTherapeutics is leveraging epigenetics expertise developed by researchers at the Biotech Research & Innovation Centre (BRIC) at University of Copenhagen. The firm is building its IP platform in the field of histone demethylases and methyltransferases and is working to expand its in-house pipeline of small molecule inhibitors of key enzymes.
EpiTherapeutics is also looking to leverage its capabilities through collaborations with the industry. In mid-December the firm announced that Merck Serono Ventures (MSV) had joined the firm’s existing seed investor syndicate. The additional investment has taken total funding in EpiTherapeutics to DKK51.5 million ($9.1 million) since it was founded in October 2008. Existing investors include Lundbeckfond Ventures, Novo Seeds, SEED Capital and OSI Pharmaceuticals.