Split within Amphora leads to specialised services
split the company into two stand-alone business units - a
pharmaceutical development firm in California and a contract
research organisation in Durham.
The decision by the contract research organisation (CRO) confirms speculation about its intentions for the forthcoming year. In June 2005, Amphora had said the company were investigating ways to cement its future and protect more than $50m invested into the company.
By splitting the company into two, Amphora think that the value of each of the units will increase possibly attracting more additional venture funding as a result.
"The strategic division of the company into two stand-alone business units will enable Amphora to fully realise the value of both its world-leading high throughput drug discovery expertise and its very promising portfolio of drug candidates," said Peter Savas, Amphora CEO and Chairman said of the Business Unit formation.
"We have constantly been asked to reproduce the demonstrated success of our in-house discovery program in a contract mode by both major Pharma and Biotech companies. This move will enable us to do just that, while at the same time retain focus on the continued development and out-licensing of our drug candidate portfolio."
The Amphora Pharma Business Unit is focused on development and out-licensing of the company's selection of lead candidates.
Meanwhile, the Amphora Discovery Business Unit is a provider of integrated contract services for the pharmaceutical industry, employing chemogenomic, systems biology and microfluidics technologies to deliver targeted lead generation and lead optimisation solutions.
"Amphora's drug discovery efforts have resulted in successful collaborations with industry leaders and the advancement of multiple internal programs into preclinical studies," said C. Nicholas Hodge, CSO and founder of Amphora, who will also head the Amphora Pharma Business Unit.
"Amphora Pharma has a large and growing intellectual property portfolio for drugable small molecules directed toward high-value targets for cancer, inflammation and CNS diseases," he said.
