Grunenthal Highlights Significant R&D Advances in Pain, Inflammation as well as INTAC® Tamper-Resistant Technology at World's Largest Biotechnology Conference

AACHEN, Germany and CHICAGO, April 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Grunenthal Group is pleased to announce their active participation in the 2013 BIO International Convention, the world's largest event for the biotechnology industry. The family owned, research driven pharmaceutical company headquartered in Aachen, Germany, will be sharing with the Biotech community exciting developments in the NCE pipeline for pain and inflammation as well as the tamper-resistant formulation technology INTAC^®. With a very successful track record of global development and commercialization partnerships, Grunenthal continues to seek collaboration opportunities which bring together strong partners to increase the overall value of an asset.

Hosted by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), this year's convention will take place in Chicago, IL, USA, from April 22-25 (http://convention.bio.org). Grunenthal can be visited during the convention at booth # 5237 where a team of scientific as well as business development & licensing experts will be available for discussions.

"With the big interest we experienced last year in our NCE pipeline, the formulation technology platform INTAC^® and the respective partnering opportunities, it was an easy decision to come back this year and share the progress we made on all levels," said Prof. Eric-Paul Paques, President Grunenthal Innovation and Chief Alliance Officer.

Grunenthal is one of the big five research-oriented pharmaceutical companies headquartered in Germany which sustainably invest in R&D (26% of revenues in 2012). The focus of the R&D efforts is to improve treatment options for patients, to become the most patient-centric company and thus to be a leader in therapy innovation. Building on a history of successful partnering, Grunenthal strongly believes in the benefits of collaboration to fully exploit the value of assets.

"Grunenthal has built an attractive portfolio of potential treatment improvements for patients who suffer from painful diseases; the progress will be shared at the BIO conference. For the first time, we will be presenting results of our new inflammation pipeline to the community. At the same time, we broadened the tamper-resistant technology INTAC^® from extended to now also immediate release formulations as well as combinations which enables us to offer this technology now for broader variety of drug products," adds Dr. Klaus-Dieter Langner, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Grunenthal Innovation.

Portfolio insights

Pain: An unmatched pipeline of NCEs
Based on the profound understanding of pain patients, pain physiology and pain treatment, paired with the proven expertise in research, full development and commercialization of innovative treatment options, Grunenthal strives to break the paradigm of better efficacy being associated with more severe side effects. The focus lies on non-opioids for the treatment of moderate and severe pain in a variety of indications, with the following highlights:

Pain – TRPV1
Grunenthal has discovered several proprietary structural classes (small molecules) of TRPV1 antagonists with innovative mechanism of actions aimed at avoiding hyperthermia and heat hyposensitivity, typical side effects associated with TRPV1 antagonism. With that, the compounds offer potential new treatment options for pain and selected non-pain indications.

Pain – Kv7.2/3
Grunenthal is pursuing the discovery and development of novel, selective, orally-active, small molecule KCNQ channel openers for the treatment of pain and CNS-related disorders. First clinical candidates also offer a potential dual mode of action, targeting as well a second mechanism, TSPO (a translocator protein localized on the outer mitochondrial membrane).

Pain – Cav2.2
This clinically validated target modulates the central gate keeper of pain, combined with an improved side effect profile.

Inflammation: Sharing opportunities to partner for innovative treatments
Inflammation is Grunenthal's second strategic NCE pillar next to pain - also leveraging the proximity to pain with regard to clinical indications, biological pathways, target classes and technological expertise. The pipeline addresses a broader spectrum of diseases for which inflammation is the driver of their pathophysiology. Within a short timeframe, Grunenthal has built a strong pipeline, with lead asset expected to enter clinical trials as early as 2015. We will share highlights of one exemplary project: Cathepsin S/K.

Inflammation – Cathepsin S/K
In diseases like osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, the protein expression of Cathepsin S and K is found to be a key driver for chronic inflammation and tissue remodeling. With a dual mode of action targeting both Cathepsin S and Cathepsin K, the first-in-class, highly-potent dual Cathepsin S/K-inhibitor from our pipeline shows a strong potential for differentiating from existing therapies.

Technology platform: INTAC^® Tamper-Resistant Formulation
With its innovative tamper-resistant formulation (TRF) technology platform, INTAC^®, Grunenthal is leading the field with already several FDA-approved opioid products utilizing this unique technology which confers outstanding crush resistance of drug matrix and raises hurdles against prescription drug abuse. Grunenthal considers INTAC^® to be the world-wide leading technology for tamper-resistant opioid products.

Grunenthal has expanded the INTAC^® platform beyond extended release formulations to immediate release as well as combination formulations. This allows Grunenthal to offer this technology now for a broader variety of drugs and abuse deterrent applications.

About Grunenthal
The Grunenthal Group is an independent, family-owned, international research-based pharmaceutical company headquartered in Aachen, Germany. Building on its unique position in pain treatment, its objective is to become the most patient-centric company and thus to be a leader in therapy innovation. Grunenthal is one of the last remaining five research-oriented pharmaceutical companies with headquarters in Germany which sustainably invests in research and development. The research and development costs amounted to a preliminary of about 26 percent of revenues in 2012. Grunenthal's research and development strategy concentrates on selected fields of therapy and state-of-the-art technologies. We are intensely focused on discovering new ways to treat pain better and more effectively, with fewer side effects than current therapies. Altogether, the Grunenthal Group has affiliates in 26 countries worldwide. Grunenthal products are sold in more than 155 countries and today approx. 4,400 employees are working for the Grunenthal Group worldwide. In 2012, Grunenthal achieved preliminary revenues of € 973 mn. More information: www.grunenthal.com.

Contact: Frank Schonrock, Vice President Corporate Affairs
Tel.: +49 241 569-1568, Fax: +49 241 569-3539, [email protected]
Grunenthal GmbH, 52099 Aachen, Germany, http://www.grunenthal.com

SOURCE Grunenthal