Daiichi Sankyo, Virtici and Celdara Medical Announce Collaboration to Identify and Progress High Potential Therapeutics

TOKYO, SEATTLE, and LEBANON, N.H., Jan. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Daiichi Sankyo, Co., Ltd., Virtici, LLC and Celdara Medical, LLC announced today that they have entered into a collaboration to jointly investigate novel therapeutic candidates and thereby further strengthen the Daiichi Sankyo developmental pipeline across multiple therapeutic areas.

Virtici and Celdara Medical are affiliated, independent companies that build and develop pipelines of high potential therapeutic assets.  The collaboration is intended to accelerate the time from discovery to development with the potential to deliver first-in-class treatments that address significant unmet medical needs.  Funding is channeled into the most promising targets to drive early research before moving into larger scale clinical development. 

"This collaboration strengthens our ability to access potential breakthrough innovation, and demonstrates our continued commitment to working with partners at the forefront of science," said Mahmoud Ghazzi, M.D., Ph.D., Global Head of Development, Daiichi Sankyo, Co. Ltd.  "By augmenting in-house research and other development avenues, these focused, exclusive, indication-targeted partnerships can accelerate medical innovations into the clinic and ultimately to patients."

"We are extremely pleased to be working with Daiichi Sankyo," said Neil Fanger, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Virtici. "Using our unique model, infrastructure and capabilities, we can help further advance Daiichi Sankyo's strong track record of innovative drug development. This collaboration leverages the complementary capabilities and synergies between our firms."

"This alliance represents a new partnership paradigm for Virtici and Celdara Medical while validating our underlying development model. Daiichi Sankyo's impressive capabilities, global reach, and open, collaborative culture make them ideal partners," said Jake Reder, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Celdara Medical. "The team at Celdara Medical is excited to work hand-in-hand with Daiichi Sankyo on some of the most challenging problems in human health."

About Daiichi Sankyo


The Daiichi Sankyo Group is dedicated to the creation and supply of innovative pharmaceutical products to address the diversified, unmet medical needs of patients in both mature and emerging markets. While maintaining its portfolio of marketed pharmaceuticals for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and bacterial infections, the Group is engaged in the development of treatments for thrombotic disorders and focused on the discovery of novel oncology and cardiovascular-metabolic therapies. Furthermore, the Daiichi Sankyo Group has created a "Hybrid Business Model," which will respond to market and customer diversity and optimize growth opportunities across the value chain. For more information about Daiichi Sankyo, please visit www.daiichisankyo.com.   

About Virtici, LLC

Founded in 2011, Virtici is a privately held product-development company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Virtici's mission is to improve quality of life and save lives, and is primarily developing products to improve the way we diagnose and treat cancer, autoimmunity, and cardiovascular/metabolic diseases. Virtici, working closely with our affiliate Celdara Medical, partners with inventors and their research institutions, bringing the business and finance expertise to accelerate product development. Working with its partners in the pharmaceutical industry, Virtici connects the entire product development lifecycle by improving innovation, enhancing discovery and increasing product development efficiencies. For more information about Virtici, please visit www.virtici.com.

About Celdara Medical, LLC

Celdara Medical was founded by Drs. Jake Reder and Michael Fanger in 2008, and is headquartered at the Dartmouth Regional Technology Center (DRTC) in Lebanon, NH. Celdara Medical builds academic and early-stage innovations into high-potential medical companies, identifying discoveries of exceptional value at the earliest stages and moving them toward the market. Celdara Medical, working closely with our affiliate Virtici, partners with inventors and their institutions, providing the developmental, financial, and business acumen required to bridge discovery and profitability. With robust funding options, a diverse and high impact Programmatic pipeline, and partnerships with world-class academic institutions and industry leaders, Celdara Medical navigates all aspects of a complex industry, accelerating science to improve human health. For more information about Celdara Medical, please visit www.celdaramedical.com.

SOURCE Daiichi Sankyo, Inc.