Inventiva Announces Receipt of €2.3 million in Grant Funding for YAP/TEAD Protein Research Program
Inventiva Announces Receipt of €2.3 million in Grant Funding for YAP/TEAD Protein Research Program
September 19, 2016
Daix, France, September 19, 2016 – Inventiva, an emerging biopharmaceutical company developing innovative therapies to treat especially fibrosis, today announces that it has been awarded two grants totaling €2.3 million for the YAP/TEAD research program. The first grant, for €1.5 million, was from the European EUROSTARS program, a joint program between EUREKA and the European Commission supporting international innovative R&D projects led by small and medium-sized enterprises. The second grant, for €0.8 million, was from the Agence Nationale de Recherche (ANR), the French national research agency. These grants will support the further development of Inventiva’s YAP/TEAD protein research program through the TheraYAP and Hippocure drug development consortiums, respectively.
The YAP/TEAD program aims to interrupt the interactions between two proteins, YAP and TEAD, which interact in a cell’s nucleus to regulate the genes responsible for the proliferation and death of cells. The program is based on molecules developed and patented by Inventiva that have demonstrated substantial antiproliferative activity in various cancerous cells and could have significant therapeutic potential for treating malignant mesothelioma cancer and severe forms of lung, colon, ovarian, and gastric cancer.
“The grants awarded by EUROSTARS and the ANR underscore the significant potential of our technology, as well as the scientific community’s interest in our innovative approach targeting the YAP/TEAD transcription factors. Working collaboratively with other industry leaders, we intend to accelerate the development of our YAP/TEAD program in order to provide new therapeutic solutions to the thousands of patients with malignant mesothelioma cancer and other severe forms of cancer;,” said Pierre Broqua, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Inventiva.
The 33-month TheraYAP consortium focuses on the development of a drug candidate and companion biomarkers for malignant mesothelioma cancer and other severe forms of lung and breast cancers. In addition to Inventiva, the TheraYAP consortium includes Xen Tech, a global specialist in human tumor xenografts, and Atrys Health, a prominent player in personalized oncology.
The 30-month Hippocure consortium aims to identify synergies between the molecules patented by Inventiva and lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma current treatments in order to develop combination therapies In addition to Inventiva, this consortium also includes the prestigious Institut Curie cancer research center in France.
“While fibrosis is our primary therapeutic focus, with the clinical development of our IVA 337 drug candidate in NASH1 and systemic scleroderma, the progress in the YAP/TEAD program is a testament to our technology’s potential in other large therapeutic areas, such as oncology. YAP/TEAD is a target of considerable interest for numerous cancers, and we are confident that our collaborations within the TheraYAP and Hippocure consortiums will accelerate the discovery and development of efficient YAP/TEAD inhibitors,” concludedFrédéric Cren, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Inventiva.
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Contacts
Inventiva
Frédéric Cren
Chief Executive Officer
info@inventivapharma.com
+33 3 80 44 75 00
Brunswick
Julien Trosdorf / Yannick Tetzlaff
Media relations
inventiva@brunswickgroup.com
+33 1 53 96 83 83
LifeSci Advisors
Monique Kosse
Investor relations
monique@lifesciadvisors.com
Lanifibranor, its lead product, is an anti-fibrotic treatment acting on the three alpha, gamma and delta PPARs (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors), which play key roles in controlling the fibrotic process. Its anti-fibrotic action targets two initial indications with substantial unmet medical need: NASH, a severe and increasingly prevalent liver disease already affecting over 30 million people in the United States, and systemic sclerosis, a disease with a very high mortality rate and for which there is no approved treatment to date.
Inventiva is also developing a second clinical program with odiparcil (IVA 336) for the treatment of patients with mucopolysaccaridosis type VI (or Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome), a rare and severe gene disease affecting children. Odiparcil has also the potential to address other MPS types, characterized by the accumulation of chondroitin or dermatan sulfate (MPS I or Hurler/Sheie syndrome, MPS II or Hunter syndrome, MPS IVa or Morquio syndrome and MPS VII or Sly syndrome). Inventiva is also developing a portfolio of early research projects in the field of oncology.
Inventiva benefits from partnerships with world-leading research entities such as the Institut Curie in the field of oncology. Two strategic partnerships have also been established with world-class major pharmaceutical companies AbbVie and Boehringer Ingelheim in the fields of autoimmune diseases (specifically in psoriasis) and fibrosis respectively. These partnerships provide milestone payments to Inventiva upon the achievement of pre-clinical, clinical, regulatory and commercial milestones, in addition to royalties on the products resulting from the partnerships.
Inventiva employs over 100 employees and owns R&D facilities near Dijon, acquired from the international pharmaceutical group Abbott. The Company owns, a proprietary chemical library of over 240,000 molecules as well as integrated biology, chemistry, ADME and pharmacology platforms.[/lvca_panel][lvca_panel panel_id=”panel-5bc0ba5831260″ panel_title=”Important Notice”]This press release contains forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates with respect to the clinical development
plans, business and regulatory strategy, and anticipated future performance of Inventiva and of the market in which it operates. Certain of these statements, forecasts and estimates can be recognized by the use of words such as, without limitation, “believes”, “anticipates”, “expects”, “intends”, “plans”, “seeks”, “estimates”, “may”, “will” and “continue” and similar expressions. Such statements are not historical facts but rather are statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management”s beliefs. These statements reflect such views and assumptions prevailing as of the date of the statements and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause future results, performance or future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Actual events are difficult to predict and may depend upon factors that are beyond Inventiva”s control.
There can be no guarantees with respect to pipeline product candidates that the candidates will receive the necessary regulatory approvals or that they will prove to be commercially successful. Therefore, actual results may turn out to be materially different from the anticipated future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements, forecasts and estimates. Given these uncertainties, no representations are made as to the accuracy or fairness of such forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates. Furthermore, forward-looking statements, forecasts and estimates only speak as of the date of this press release. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements.
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Inventiva has no intention and is under no obligation to update or review the forward-looking statements referred to above. Consequently, Inventiva accepts no liability for any consequences arising from the use of any of the above statements.[/lvca_panel][/lvca_accordion]