Ubiquigent and University of Dundee announce collaboration to develop novel ubiquitin system targeted compound libraries

Ubiquigent Limited, a company specialising in ubiquitin cell-signalling system drug discovery capabilities and services, and the Drug Discovery Unit (the DDU) of the University of Dundee, announced today they have entered into a collaboration agreement to develop and market new ubiquitin system targeted compound libraries aimed at discovering potent and selective therapeutics across multiple areas including; cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic, neurological and musculoskeletal, and infection and immunity.

Under the terms of the agreement, Ubiquigent and the DDU will design, develop and characterise small molecule compound libraries targeting the intracellular proteins of the ubiquitin system to provide a valuable source of novel targeted libraries to unlock new medicinal chemistry opportunities.

As the exclusive commercialisation partner, Ubiquigent will market these compound libraries to its customers as research tools, enabling and supporting their drug discovery programmes. The DDU will utilise the know-how developed through the collaboration to further in-house exploration of novel ubiquitin system cancer targets.

To coincide with the announcement, Ubiquigent also announced today that Dr Mark Treherne has been appointed as Chairman of the Board to drive the new collaborative business opportunities that will be opened up with intelligently designed compound libraries. Dr Treherne was previously a Non-Executive Director on the Ubiquigent Board and has been instrumental in initiating kinase drug discovery in both pharmaceutical and integrated contract research companies. He now believes that ubiquitin drug discovery is emerging as the next big opportunity beyond kinases.

Commenting on the collaboration, Dr Jason Brown, Managing Director of Ubiquigent, said: “We are very pleased to be working with a highly regarded university-based unit that is expert at developing medicinal chemistry solutions to novel targets. The collaboration supports Ubiquigent’s goal of being the first, fully integrated provider of biology, assays, small molecule libraries and compound profiling services in the ubiquitin signalling system field. As such, we are well placed to help our pharma and biotech partners accelerate access to the field and support their ongoing programmes.”

Professor Paul Wyatt, Head of the DDU, added: “Ubiquitin-system drug discovery holds great promise and we are excited to be working with Ubiquigent to develop compound libraries which hold the potential to deliver wide reaching therapeutic benefit. The initiative provides an ideal opportunity to combine the DDU’s strength in medicinal chemistry with the technical and commercial expertise provided by the team at Ubiquigent.”

On the appointment of Dr Mark Treherne as Chairman, Dr Jason Brown commented: “We’re delighted that Mark has accepted the position of Chairman of the Board. In his role as a Non-Executive Director, he has made an invaluable contribution to the growth and success of Ubiquigent and as Chairman, we look forward to benefitting from his guidance as we continue to develop as a key partner to pharma and biotech.”