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X-Chem, Alexion to discover new therapies for severe and ultra-rare disorders

US-based biotechnology firm X-Chem has entered into a drug discovery collaboration with Alexion (ALXN) for new therapies to treat patients with severe and ultra-rare disorders.

Under the deal, X-Chem will deploy its drug discovery engine, which is based on an ultra-large, high-diversity library in excess of 100 billion molecules, to identify new drug candidates against targets chosen by Alexion.

Alexion will have the exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize new compounds developed under the collaboration.

The deal will see X-Chem receive an upfront payment and would receive additional payments upon the achievement of specified research, development and regulatory milestones.

Additionally, X-Chem will receive royalty payments on the sale of products resulting from the collaboration.

Alexion executive vice-president and head of Global R&D Martin Mackay said: "This agreement with X-Chem is an important element of Alexion’s strategy for addressing targets and developing first-in-class therapeutics for patients with life-threatening and ultra-rare disorders."

The X-Chem drug discovery engine is based on a library generated by iterative combinatorial synthesis of small molecules tethered to DNA tags that record the synthetic history of the small molecule.