KU Leuven spin-out enters licence agreement with Novo Nordisk

reMYND and Novo Nordisk have entered into a license agreement to further develop reMYND’s ReS39 therapeutic program of diabetes. This program holds also promise for NASH and the metabolic syndrome.

reMYND’s lead diabetes program ReS39 sustains and increases the endogenous insulin production capacity of the pancreas by restoring beta-cell function and insulin signalling in Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes animal models.

Koen De Witte, Managing Director of reMYND commented “Even though symptomatic treatments work well, diabetes patients would greatly benefit from restoring durably their endogenous insulin production and/or increasing insulin sensitivity. Novo Nordisk’s agility to step-in once they observed the effects of our ReS39 treatment in their own hands makes the road ahead all the more exciting.”

Under the agreement, reMYND could receive up to 350 million Euros in research and milestone payments, plus royalties on resulting net sales.

With the support of Vlaams Agentschap Innoveren en Ondernemen (VLAIO) and Participatie Maatschappij Vlaanderen (PMV), reMYND has discovered and developed its lead diabetes program ReS39. These compounds sustain and increase the endogenous insulin production capacity and insulin signalling in diabetes animal models, providing fast symptomatic relief combined with durability. In addition, ReS39 reduces liver weight and its triglyceride content, making it potentially also relevant for NASH and the metabolic syndrome.

The program has previously shown a similar protective effect on dopamine producing neurons in Parkinson’s mice, the most common motor disorder.

Currently the preclinical candidate is being profiled to take into pre-clinical toxicology studies.

reMYND NV was founded in 2002 as a spin-off from the University of Leuven, drives the development of disease-modifying treatments against Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Diabetes, and other orphan protein misfolding disorders.

reMYND’s most advanced program, ReS19-T, restores calcium dyshomeostasis in Alzheimer’s, a process central in the disease cascade leading to neuronal demise and built-up of plaques and tangles. By targeting the disease in its tracks, ReS19-T mitigates neuronal loss and pathology but has also an immediate symptomatic benefit on synaptic plasticity, cognition and cerebrospinal biomarkers. This Alzheimer program is undergoing IND-enabling toxicology studies to start clinical studies, and is also subject to different partnering discussion.

reMYND has been substantially supported by grants from VLAIO/ IWT (Flanders, Belgium) and from the Michael J Fox Foundation.

For more information, contact reMYND at + 32 16 75 14 16 or visit www.remynd.com