Merck and Gedeon Richter join research forces to beat ischaemic stroke
Darmstadt/Germany, and Budapest/Hungary, 28.09.2000 - Merck KGaA today announced a joint research collaboration with Gedeon Richter Ltd., the largest pharmaceuticals company in Hungary. Both companies will combine their pre-clinical pharmaceutical research forces to jointly identify novel compounds for the treatment of ischaemic stroke.
Under the terms of the agreement, compound of both companies will be tested by Gedeon Richters established Cell-based High-Throughput Screening technology. Potential candidates will be further optimized and tested at Merck KGaA.
"Joining our forces in a research alliance will give us a competitive advantage in this area of high medical need, and we expect this research collaboration to generate new drug candidates for further development" said Dr Ingeborg Lues, Head of pre-clinical research at Merck KGaA.
"Research alliances are key elements of our strategy, and the co-operation with Merck KGaA helps focusing our efforts on central nervous system", commented Dr Zsolt Szombathelyi, Director of Research at Richter.
Ischeamic stroke constitutes the third most frequent cause of death following myocardial infarction and cancer. Brain cells are damaged due to lack of oxygen when the blood flow to the brain is disrupted or bleeding occurs in the brain. There is as yet no drug available that has reliably proven to protect the brain after a stroke and that can be administered already on the spot without knowledge of the exact diagnosis. To provide effective help to stroke patients in future, the research collaboration aims to identify novel compounds capable of protecting or even saving the brain tissue after a stroke happened.
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