In August 2019 St George Street Capital (SGSC) signed a license agreement with AstraZeneca to develop two compounds in the clinic: AZD1656 and AZD5904. The agreement enabled additional compounds and indications to be added in the future.
The two compounds to be developed were part of AstraZeneca’s Emerging Innovation Unit, which explores drug re-purposing for novel indications by working with academic institutions through its Open Innovation programme (www.openinnovation.astrazeneca.com).
Professor John Martin, Chairman of SGSC, said: “The Charity has formed a strong partnership of mutual understanding with AstraZeneca, in which both parties share a common value: the acceleration of vitally needed medicines into clinical practice. The charitable nature of SGSC is original in this field, allowing decisions to be made rapidly with the focus only on patient need. As a practicing doctor who understands the wide therapeutic needs of patients it is a pleasure to work with AstraZeneca and with the dedicated team at SGSC. Without the SGSC-AstraZeneca partnership, these potential medicines would not be developed.”