Dr. Reddys Laboratories (DRL) and UK-based Argenta Discovery have announced milestone progress in their joint respiratory drug discovery and development programme. Christopher Ashton, chief executive officer, Argenta, said: "Just 18 months after signing the deal with Dr Reddy's, the team has already selected the first candidate drug to proceed into pre-clinical development. We are very excited by the exceptional progress the programme has made within such a short time frame. We are on target to enter Phase I in mid-2008 and Phase II in 2009. We believe we are first-in-class for this inhaled anti-inflammatory approach to treat chronic respiratory disease."Under the terms of the licensing agreement announced in February 2006, Argenta and Dr. Reddys are collaborating to identify clinical candidates against an undisclosed but proven anti-inflammatory drug target and to develop these candidates to Phase II.
