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Connexios Life Sciences and Boehringer Ingelheim Enter Agreement for New AMPK Activators

May 6, 2014

Connexios Life Sciences, an Indian biotechnology company, and Boehringer Ingelheim announced on May 6 an exclusive global research collaboration agreement for the development of AMPK agonists, which are used in the treatment of patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

Boehringer Ingelheim will obtain global rights to CNX-012, Connexios’ program on AMPK activators. The program also includes CNX-570 and other compounds in early pre-clinical development. Boehringer Ingelheim will oversee the further development and commercialization of the AMPK program candidates. Financial terms were not disclosed.

AMPK activators directly activate specific isoforms of the protein, designed to cause a strong effect on the cellular energetics and redox balance across key cell types and tissues. CNX-012-570 is the top candidate from the program. Connexios has shown positive outcomes from target modulation across the liver, muscle, adipose and other tissues in preclinical studies.

"We strongly believe that the collaboration will yield best-in-class activators of this exciting but challenging target and ultimately result in better therapies for patients of Type 2 Diabetes who also suffer from the burden of several other cardiometabolic co-morbidities,” said Suri Venkatachalam, CEO and Founder of Connexios. — Kellen Owings

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