Aurigene Discovery Technologies Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Limited on Tuesday announced its re-branding to ‘Aurigene Oncology Limited’.
The brand which focuses on small molecule new drug discovery in the immuno-oncology area, will now, with a new brand identity with the tagline ‘Conquering Cancer’ reflects the company’s sharpened focus on discovering and developing therapeutics to improve the lives of cancer patients.
The company claimed the move will help in ensuring access to quality medicines through accelerated innovation and strong partnerships.
“In the last 20 years of its existence, Aurigene Oncology Limited has evolved significantly. Incorporated in 2002, Aurigene began by focusing primarily on collaborations based on drug discovery in a number of therapeutic areas. Since its inception, Aurigene has discovered 18 new chemical entities (NCEs) for clinical development. It has out-licensed several of them to pharma and biotech companies while advancing some programs on its own. Over the years, Aurigene shifted focus to the discovery and development of novel and effective therapeutics for the treatment of cancer as reflected in the new name,” the company stated on Tuesday.
Earlier this year, Aurigene signed a drug discovery, development, and commercialisation partnership with U.S.-based EQRx. According to the company, the collaboration combines Aurigene’s small molecule drug discovery platform and EQRx’s business model to accelerate the development of drug candidates in the areas of oncology and immune-inflammatory diseases and improve global access to innovative medicines.
In 2019, Aurigene signed an exclusive collaboration with Exelixis, Inc. to discover and develop novel therapies for cancer.
The discovery and development work of Aurigene in NCEs and cutting-edge spaces such as cell and gene therapy are an important part of the Horizon 2 businesses of Dr. Reddy’s, i.e., future businesses that are likely to shape the healthcare ecosystem in the long run, the company claimed.