AMRI wins contract to develop CNS drug candidates
Worth US$43m over five years
The US National Institutes of Health (NIH)/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) has awarded a five-year contract to Albany Molecular Research (AMRI) worth US$43m to provide chemistry and other drug discovery services to the Medicinal Chemistry for Neurotherapeutics Programme (MCNP).
AMRI has been collaborating with NINDS since 2005 to develop treatments for spinal muscular atrophy.
Initial funding of up to $10m will be used for the first phase of the project, which is expected to begin this month (August), with the aim of delivering at least one Phase I clinical trial candidate.
‘This significant award demonstrates the NIH’s new focus on helping support the translation of basic research discoveries in areas of unmet medical need to potential drug candidates,’ said AMRI’s chairman, president and ceo, Thomas D’Ambra.
Under the MCNP, AMRI will provide compound design, synthesis and management services in addition to in vitro metabolic testing.
