Parkinson’s specialist spins out from Merck Serono’s Swiss R&D ops
pharmafile | July 30, 2012 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | Merck Serono, Parkinson's, Prexton, Swiss
A company specialising in novel treatments for Parkinson’s disease is the first to be spun out of Merck Serono’s soon-to-close R&D operations in Geneva under the company’s partnership programme.
Prexton Therapeutics will focus on developing Parkinson’s drugs that target the metabotropic glutamate receptors mGluR3 and mGluR4 with the help of €2.1 million in seed financing from Merck Serono.
Merck Serono said last month that it had set up a €30 million ($38m) fund to back start-ups by employees at its operations in Geneva, which have been affected by a restructuring that will lead to around 500 job losses and 750 workers transferred to other locations.
The fund – called the Entrepreneur Partnership Programme – provides capital investment and/or the granting of intellectual property licenses to groups of former employees who can put forward a robust business plan.
“We are really proud and satisfied that this first project is now coming to life”, said Merck Serono chairman François Naef.
“Through such initiatives, not only will we be able to maintain jobs in the Geneva area but also unique expertise”, he added.
Prexton will be run by a team of Merck Serono scientists, with a member of Merck Serono Ventures on the board of director, and will be located in Eclosion, a biotech start-up incubator located in Plan-les-Ouates in Geneva.
Its chief executive and founder is François Conquet, who most recently held the position of director of licensing and business at Merck Serono, and was formerly chief executive of Addex Pharmaceuticals and head of GlaxoSmithKline’s department of experimental pathology in Lausanne.
“Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR) have been shown recently to be a key target to tackle the onset of Parkinson’s disease”, said Conquet.
“Modulating their response is certainly among the most promising ways to develop future treatments for one of the most severe brain diseases”.
The cantonal government is providing additional support to Prexton, which will start operations with a portfolio of chemical compounds in pre-clinical development. The intention is to advance candidates through phase I testing and then seek licensing partners, according to Merck Serono.
Conciliation process drags on
Meanwhile, negotiations between Merck Serono and employees affected by the Swiss restructuring continue to be tempestuous, with the company rejecting a proposal put forward by the Geneva Chamber for Collective Labour Relations (CRCT) last week that would have increased the level of redundancy pay included in severance packages.
Staff have held a series of demonstrations and lightning strikes to protest the restructuring plans, which also affect workers at manufacturing sites in Aubonne, Corsier-sur-Vevey and Coinsins.
The company has come up with a counter-proposal which includes a minimum of 25,000 Swiss francs in severance pay and a 500,000-franc hardship fund for employees affected particularly badly by the closure of the Geneva site and a 1 million-franc fund to help support local employment initiatives.
Last month, contract research organisation Quintiles said it would make at least 100 job offers within the next three months to Merck Serono workers.
Phil Taylor
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