Summit Corporation PLC has entered a strategic alliance with the University of Oxford that will strengthen its utrophin modulator programme for the treatment of the fatal muscle wasting disease, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). Summit will acquire exclusive commercial rights to a pipeline of novel, early-stage utrophin modulators and core biological screening technology, and an exclusive option to intellectual property (IP) that is related to the utrophin field generated during the alliance. These assets have been developed at the University of Oxford by research teams led by Professor Kay Davies, an internationally acclaimed expert in DMD, Professor Stephen Davies, the Waynflete Professor of Chemistry and Dr Angela Russell, an expert in medicinal chemistry and pharmacology. As part of the collaboration, Summit will sponsor a drug discovery programme in the University research laboratories to identify and develop additional utrophin modulator drugs.
