Debiopharm enters research accord with EPFL

Switzerland-based Debiopharm Group, a global independent biopharmaceutical development specialist focusing on serious medical conditions and particularly oncology, has signed a research project with the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, aimed at the identification of novel small molecules and peptides that interfere with pathways controlling cell fate specification. The project, named Debio 0826, could lead to the development of potential therapeutic compounds and to the identification of new targets to fight cancer stem cells.

Following the signature of an EPFL-Debiopharm partnership on February 12, this first joint research project will be performed under the supervision of Freddy Radtke, associate professor at the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (ISREC) and Gerardo Turcatti, director of the Biomolecular Screening Facility, two groups at the EPFL. Debio 0826 will benefit from the multiple molecular and genetic tools generated by Radtke's group over the past 10 years, as well as the expertise of Dr Turcatti in the molecular screening field.