Grenoble, France and NEW YORK, 6 September, 2018 - CYTOO and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) announced a research collaboration to modify CYTOO’ s existing MyoScreenTM platform to enable its potential use as a Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) target discovery platform.
DMD is a rare and life-threatening genetic disorder that affects children-approximately 1 in 3,500 to 5,000 boys-and families. It is caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene that results in progressive muscle degeneration and weakness. By the early teens, most individuals with DMD have lost the ability to walk unassisted and their heart and respiratory muscles have also weakened. Individuals with DMD usually die from cardiomyopathy and respiratory failure in their second decade of life.
CYTOO has developed a muscle-on-a-plate platform using patients’ primary cells, called MyoScreen™. MyoScreen is an in vitro system in which skeletal muscle cells mimic the morphology, contractile and metabolic functions of human muscle in vivo and therefore allows analyses of the molecular mechanisms involved in such functions in health and disease.
Under the terms of the agreement, Pfizer and CYTOO will work together to develop and validate such a target discovery platform using a DMD patient muscle-derived MyoScreen platform. The goal of the collaboration is to attempt to establish a robust in vitro system that may be used for a high throughput target identification screen. Should such a system be developed, Pfizer will have an option to acquire a license for the use of the resulting platform for DMD target identification efforts.
Dr. John Murphy, Vice President, Biology, Pfizer’s Rare Disease Research Unit, said, “Although the genetic cause of DMD has been known for years, little is known about the molecular functions that are affected in DMD muscles. Pfizer is committed to early stage DMD research and target identification.”
Luc Selig, CYTOO’s CEO, said, “Muscle dystrophies affect children severely, and we still don’ t know what happens in muscle. This is why we developed MyoScreen: to have a laboratory model of patient-derived muscle, to study and modulate muscle functions and to identify drug candidates that are specific to muscle function. Teaming with Pfizer on DMD means they have shown a great dedication to this project, and we are extremely motivated to succeed.”
The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
About CYTOO
CYTOO is a preclinical stage drug discovery company addressing muscular disorders (NMDs, muscle waste, muscle disuse, metabolic ageing). The company has developed MyoScreen™, a versatile muscle-on-a-plate R&D platform, from patient-derived myotubes. MyoScreen serves also as a high content and high throughput screening tool to discover and profile drug candidates. The platform is open to partnering with biotech and pharmaceutical companies, and has been the starting point of CYTOO’s internal drug discovery program on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
CYTOO has offices in Grenoble, France and Bethesda, MD, USA.
About Pfizer: Working together for a healthier world®
At Pfizer, we apply science and our global resources to bring therapies to people that extend and significantly improve their lives. We strive to set the standard for quality, safety and value in the discovery, development and manufacture of health care products. Our global portfolio includes medicines and vaccines as well as many of the world’s best-known consumer health care products. Every day, Pfizer colleagues work across developed and emerging markets to advance wellness, prevention, treatments and cures that challenge the most feared diseases of our time. Consistent with our responsibility as one of the world’s premier innovative biopharmaceutical companies, we collaborate with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. For more than 150 years, we have worked to make a difference for all who rely on us. We routinely post information that may be important to investors on our website at www.pfizer.com. In addition, to learn more, please visit us on www.pfizer.com and follow us on Twitter at @Pfizer and @Pfizer_News, LinkedIn, YouTube and like us on Facebook at Facebook.com/Pfizer.
Pfizer’s Rare Disease Research Unit is focused on advancing drug candidates into the clinic to treat severe rare diseases such as DMD, sickle cell anemia and hemophilia.
Pfizer Disclosure Notice:
The information contained in this release is as of September 6, 2018. Pfizer assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements contained in this release as the result of new information or future events or developments.
This release contains forward-looking information about a research and option agreement with CYTOO to develop a potential target discovery platform for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), including its potential benefits, that involves substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development; uncertainties regarding whether and when the collaboration will be successful and whether and when it will yield any potential targets or DMD drug candidates; whether and when any applications may be filed with regulatory authorities for any potential DMD drug candidates; whether and when regulatory authorities may approve any such applications, which will depend on the assessment by such regulatory authorities of the benefit-risk profile suggested by the totality of the efficacy and safety information submitted; decisions by regulatory authorities regarding labeling and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of any potential immuno-oncology therapy candidates; and competitive developments.
A further description of risks and uncertainties can be found in Pfizer’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fis cal year ended December 31, 2017 and in its subsequent reports on Form 10-Q, including in the sections thereof captioned “Risk Factors” and “Forward-Looking Information and Factors That May Affect Future Results,” as well as in its subsequent reports on Form 8-K, all of which are filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov and www.pfizer.com.
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Press contact:
CYTOO
FP2COM
Florence Portejoie
fportejoie@fp2com.fr - + 33 6 07 76 82 83
