Allied-Bristol Life Sciences completes ABLS II drug candidate feasibility programme

It is intended that ABLS Capital, LLC, which includes Allied Minds, Woodford Investment Management and Invesco Asset Management among its investors, will fund 80% of this phase of development, with BMS funding the remaining 20%.

ABLS is a drug discovery company focused on identifying and developing biopharmaceutical innovations from leading U.S. universities and research institutions that it believes have significant therapeutic and commercial potential. ABLS focuses on early-stage opportunities in key therapeutic areas including fibrosis, cardiovascular, oncology, immunology and genetically defined diseases.

ABLS has launched three subsidiaries; ABLS I, ABLS II and ißeCa Therapeutics to license and initiate development work on proprietary assets from Yale University, Harvard University and NYU School of Medicine, respectively.

ABLS II is seeking to develop novel small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of fibrotic and autoimmune diseases, and is based on research and intellectual property developed in the Harvard University laboratory of Professor Malcolm Whitman.

Chris Silva, CEO of Allied Minds, said: "This is an exciting milestone for our ABLS partnership with BMS. Of the three subsidiaries launched by ABLS in the last 12 months to undertake development work on proprietary assets from leading research institutions, ABLS II is the first to successfully complete the drug candidate feasibility programme.

"It is therefore the first to obtain joint approval and funding from Allied Minds and BMS to continue the lead optimisation programme and the identification of pre-clinical drug candidates for potential sale to BMS."

ABLS Capital was formed last month with the sole purpose of investing in ABLS subsidiaries as their assets enter the Optimisation Phase. ABLS II represents the first example of this novel, de-risked approach to drug development.