Avila Therapeutics Announces Agreement with Novartis to Develop Novel Covalent Drug Candidate.WALTHAM, Mass. -- Avila Therapeutics, Inc., an emerging biotechnology company, announced today that it has entered into an option agreement with the Novartis Option Fund focused on Avila's advancement of a novel covalent co·va·lent adj. Of or relating to a chemical bond characterized by one or more pairs of shared electrons. drug program from Avila's research pipeline in conjunction with an equity investment. The agreement includes upfront and potential milestones payments to Avila totaling over $200 million plus royalties. Avila's covalent drugs offer the potential to treat many serious diseases through a novel mechanism called protein silencing. "We are excited about the opportunity presented by Avila's innovative approach to the design and development of covalent drugs," said Henry Skinner Henry Alfred 'Harrie' Skinner was the RACA’s founder and first Honorary Life Member. He introduced the first gramophone to Sydney, he was a photographic pioneer, he managed a circus and then some of the great variety acts of the day, and of course he was the founding force , Ph.D., Managing Director of the Novartis Option Fund. "We selected an early program that validates the Avilomics platform and offers a unique product opportunity for Novartis." "This relationship both enables us to advance our third program and also underscores the value of our platform to create covalent drugs," said Katrine S. Bosley, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Avila Therapeutics. "The agreement is a strong complement to Novartis' equity investment in Avila, and together these steps represent an important evolution in Avila's strategic development. We anticipate establishing a select number of strategic relationships in order to take full advantage of the breadth and depth of the Avilomics platform, and we're very pleased to have Novartis as the first." About the Avilomics[TM] Platform and Covalent Drugs With broad applicability across multiple disease areas, the Avilomics platform is Avila's powerful approach to design and develop selective drugs with superior pharmacology pharmacology, study of the changes produced in living animals by chemical substances, especially the actions of drugs, substances used to treat disease. Systematic investigation of the effects of drugs based on animal experimentation and the use of isolated and . The three components of Avilomics are: i) proprietary informatics Same as information technology and information systems. The term is more widely used in Europe. technologies that uniquely identify sites amenable to selective covalent modification and target silencing, ii) a unique library of highly selective chemistries for target silencing, and iii) design tools that integrate target analysis and covalent chemistry to create novel medicines. Together, these components provide a platform for efficient design and testing that yields covalent drug candidates with broad applicability to a variety of targets and diseases. Using Avilomics, the company designs and develops covalent drugs that strongly, selectively, and resiliently bond to disease-causing proteins, thereby silencing their activity and producing superior pharmacological Pharmacological Referring to therapy that relies on drugs. Mentioned in: Pain Management pharmacological, pharmacologic pertaining to pharmacology. outcomes. About Avila Therapeutics[TM], Inc. Avila Therapeutics is developing an innovative and proprietary therapeutic approach to covalent drug development, called "protein silencing". Avila's science has the potential to deliver covalent drugs with unique therapeutic benefits because they are highly targeted, are effective against mutations in disease targets, and have long duration of action. The company is developing a pipeline of novel, protein silencing covalent drugs with a current focus on viral infection viral infection, n an infection by a pathogenic virus. A virus acts on the cell nucleus, taking over the genetic material within the nucleus and replicating itself. , cancer and autoimmune disease autoimmune disease, any of a number of abnormal conditions caused when the body produces antibodies to its own substances. In rheumatoid arthritis, a group of antibody molecules called collectively RF, or rheumatoid factor, is complexed to the individual's own gamma . Avila is funded by leading venture capital firms Name Location Founding date Managing Partners/Directors Specialty Capital managed 5AM Ventures Menlo Park, CA; Waltham, MA 2002 John Diekman, PhD (managing partner), Scott Rocklage, PhD (managing partner), Andrew Schwab (managing partner) life sciences $200M [1] : Abingworth, Advent Venture Partners, Atlas Ventures Atlas Venture is an international early-stage venture capital firm that invests in communications, information technology, and life sciences companies. Atlas Venture has investing offices in Boston, London, Munich, and Paris, and its investments are evenly divided between the , Novartis Option Fund, and Polaris Venture Partners. For additional information, please visit http://www.avilatx.com. About the Novartis Option Fund The Novartis Option Fund is a $200 million fund that is part of the Novartis Venture Funds. Established in 1996, the Novartis Venture Funds currently manage over $650 million in committed capital and is invested in more than 50 private companies. The objective of the Novartis Option Fund is to seed innovative companies through initial and follow on investments. The initial investment is coupled with an option to a specific therapeutic program providing early validation for the company's technology by a larger pharmaceutical partner. The Novartis Venture Funds' team of eight investment professionals located in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts This article is about the city of Cambridge in Massachusetts. For the English university town, see Cambridge, England. For other places, see Cambridge (disambiguation). Cambridge, Massachusetts is a city in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts, United States. , brings together extensive expertise in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry and venture capital. |
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