PPD LICENSES GGTASE INHIBITOR COMPOUNDS TO DUKE UNIVERSITY

PPD has announced the signing of an agreement to exclusively license to Duke University the development rights to PPD's patented portfolio of geranylgeranyl transferase (GGTase) inhibitor compounds.

Inhibitors of GGTase are potential drug candidates for anticancer treatments. Under the terms of the agreement, researchers at Duke may spend up to three years advancing the development of these GGTase inhibitors in an effort to identify lead candidates for further preclinical and clinical development for the treatment of cancer. Duke will fund this research and development effort. In the event that Duke advances a GGTase inhibitor, PPD will share equally with Duke in future payments by third parties.

An initial set of GGTase inhibitors was originally identified at Duke University Medical Center by Patrick Casey, Ph.D., James B. Duke professor of pharmacology and cancer biology and director, Center for Chemical Biology. PPD exclusively licensed the technology from Duke in 1998. Since that time, PPD developed a new collection of GGTase inhibitors using its combinatorial chemistry expertise.