Southampton respiratory drug discovery spin-out seeks partnership

Partnership, Licensing Opportunity

Synairgen, a drug discovery company spun out of the University of Southampton, is seeking partnership and out-licensing to the pharmaceutical industry to develop its products addressing the underlying causes of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

“We are looking to the pharmaceutical industry to partner our existing and future programmes,” said Richard Marsden, managing director of Synairgen, “We would seek to partner our programmes via a licensing agreement.”

Synairgen focuses on the discovery of new drugs to tackle the causes of respiratory diseases rather than treat the symptoms.  According to Synairgen, research in breathing problems has been obstructed by inefficacy of animal models.  In response, the company has developed advance cell models using human tissue and cells and a Biobank of clinical samples to provide the material for tissue engineering and analysis of drug targets.  Using these models Synaigen analyzes lung tissue interactions to discover novel targets and treatments.  In particular, the company is investigating a novel application of inhaled Interferon Beta to reduce exacerbations to asthma and COPD caused by the common cold.

With regards to licensing, “Synairgen’s lead programme is the development of inhaled Interferon-beta as a therapy to prevent and treat asthma or COPD (chronic bronchitis and emphysema) attacks caused by the common cold virus.  Synairgen will progress this programme up to completion of a proof of concept Phase IIa clinical trials in asthma and COPD, and will look to partner with a larger pharmaceutical/biotechnology company during this time,” explained Marsden, “Synairgen also has a product which is expected to ‘seal up’ the lining of the lungs in severe asthmatics which are thought to be ‘leaky’ compared to non-asthmatic lungs.”

Synairgen was founded in 2003 by Professors Stephen Holgate, Donna Davies and Ratko Djukanovic who developed the founding technology over a period of twenty years at the laboratories of the University of Southampton’s School of Medicine, where the company is located. Following start-up funding from IP2IPO, Synairgen raised £10 million on completion of its initial public offering on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange in 2004.