Sprint Bioscience AB (publ) today announces that the company is expanding its collaboration with Associate Professor Julian Walfridsson in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) to also include the identification of new unique target proteins that can be starting points for cancer drugs suitable for Sprint Bioscience’s fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) platform.

With the goal of finding new, innovative treatments for AML, Sprint Bioscience, together with Associate Professor Julian Walfridsson, has developed a method that facilitates the identification of new target proteins. This advanced model system will also be applicable to other cancer areas. Therefore, Sprint Bioscience has signed an agreement with Walfridsson's company NeoTargets AB, on further development of these target proteins and inhibitors of these target proteins.
Through the agreement, Sprint Bioscience has received a first-right-of-refusal for the target proteins identified in the collaboration and can quickly incorporate them into the company's own FBDD platform. For other target proteins, NeoTargets will have the right to start its own drug programs based on the results of the collaboration. Both companies will receive part of the revenue from each company's license transactions.
“We are very happy to take the next step in the collaboration with Walfridsson. Through the collaboration, we gain access to more highly interesting target proteins that can help us accelerate the build-up of our portfolio of cancer drug programs. As our portfolio grows, we build value, create additional revenue opportunities, and get even better output from our FBDD platform,” said Erik Kinnman, CEO of Sprint Bioscience.

About the collaboration with Associate Professor Julian Walfridsson
Sprint Bioscience has a long-standing collaboration with Walfridsson at Karolinska Institutet, which aims to develop a systematic method for identifying new target proteins in one of the most common forms of blood cancer, AML. The disease inhibits normal blood formation, leading to life-threatening symptoms if left untreated. As previously announced, the collaboration has received SEK 2.5 million in funding from the Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) for the identification of new drug targets in the treatment of blood cancer.

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