Siena Biotech will hold rights for use in neurodegenerative diseases, while Elixir will retain rights to all other disease areas.
Elixir Pharmaceuticals and Siena Biotech will work together on the optimization, validation, and evaluation of Elixir’s SIRT1 inhibitors in Huntington’s disease.
SIRT1 is a member of the Sirtuin class of protein deacetylase enzymes. SIRT1 is the human equivalent of Sir2, a gene identified in yeast that plays a key role in the control of lifespan, metabolism, resistance to stress, and other cellular regulatory pathways.
Elixir has over 20 Sirtuin patents and patent applications, which include coverage of small molecule SIRT1 inhibitors and activators. Siena Biotech has developed platforms for research on Huntington’s disease and optimization of targeted small molecules against neurodegenerative disorders.
Elixir will provide its SIRT1 small molecule inhibitors to Siena Biotech, which may modify these compounds using its medicinal chemistry and profiling capabilities. If optimized or second-generation compounds are produced from Siena’s research, Elixir will screen the compounds through its assays to evaluate their degree of SIRT1 specificity. Siena Biotech will retain exclusive rights to any new compounds for use in neurodegenerative diseases. Elixir will hold the rights to all other disease areas.
