UdeM's IRIC and Bristol-Myers Squibb identify small molecule drug candidate against novel target

Universit- de Montr-al (UdeM) and the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer - Commercialization of Research (IRICoR) today announced that researchers from UdeM's Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company have jointly identified a small molecule drug candidate against a novel target. This achievement represents a major pre-clinical milestone in the research collaboration between UdeM, IRICoR and Bristol-Myers Squibb and triggers a milestone payment to UdeM.

The UdeM and IRICoR medicinal chemistry component of this collaboration was carried out in IRIC's medicinal chemistry core facility. This facility employs 20 industry-trained chemists who are supported by 5 biologists and other professionals who are actively working on a number of innovative drug discovery projects being funded by IRICoR.

"We are very pleased that our medicinal chemistry team achieved this very important milestone. The clinical candidate molecule that was identified in close collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb meets very stringent criteria," commented Dr. Anne Marinier, Director of IRIC's Medicinal Chemistry Core Facility at UdeM. "This speaks to the talent of our team and our ability to deliver high-quality, optimized small molecules based on a seamless integration of biology and medicinal chemistry groups under a same roof'."

"This milestone in our long-standing collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb, and its associated payment, further validates IRICoR's business model of working closely with leading pharmaceutical companies to identify clinical candidate molecules," explains Dr. Michel Bouvier, President and CEO of IRICoR.