Denovo Biopharma Obtains Exclusive License To Liafensine From AMRI

SAN DIEGO, April 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Denovo Biopharma LLC, today announced that it has obtained an exclusive license to liafensine (DB104), a serotonin-norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor (SNDRI), a late-stage CNS drug, from Albany Molecular Research, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMRI).  The agreement between Denovo Biopharma and AMRI concludes AMRI's divesture of all its legacy intellectual property assets.  Under the terms of the definitive agreement, Denovo Biopharma gains an exclusive license to all rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize liafensine globally. Liafensine represents the third late stage product in Denovo Biopharma's pipeline.

Liafensine was taken through significant preclinical research, early development and subsequently multiple phase 2 clinical studies in treatment-resistant depression were conducted. Liafensine was well tolerated, with no evidence of dose-dependent discontinuations due to adverse events, however, the program was not continued beyond phase 2 studies.

"We appreciate the extensive efforts in the development of liafensine to date. We will apply our biomarker platform to analyze prior clinical data and identify genomic biomarkers that correlate with patients' responsiveness to treatment. This will help to establish a biomarker-drive clinical study into which the appropriate patient subsets will be enrolled. We are very excited to have the opportunity to develop a biomarker driven treatment for people with depression," said Wen Luo, PhD., Denovo Biopharma's CEO. 

"Liafensine (DB104) is our third late-stage asset, and we can now build on the success of DB102 (enzastaurin) where we have identified biomarkers and are initiating a phase 3 clinical study later this year. We will continue to seek additional late stage product opportunities which could benefit from Denovo's unique biomarker platform," said Robert Little, Denovo Biopharma's CBO.   

About Denovo Biopharma LLC

Denovo Biopharma is a biopharmaceutical company providing novel biomarker approaches to personalized drug development, including re-evaluating medicines that have failed in general patient populations. The company offers the first platform and algorithm for de novo genomic biomarker discovery using archived clinical samples. By identifying biomarkers correlated with patients' responses to drug candidates retrospectively, Denovo Biopharma enables the design and execution of follow-on clinical trials in targeted patient populations while optimizing efficacy, safety and tolerability. For additional information please visitwww.denovobiopharma.com.

Contact:
Robert Little, Chief Business Officer
Denovo Biopharma LLC
(858) 876-4012
rlittle@denovobiopharma.com

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SOURCE Denovo Biopharma, LLC