BENGALURU, India–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The collaboration combines Aurigene’s small molecule drug discovery platform and EQRx’s pioneering business model to accelerate the development of drug candidates in the areas of oncology and immuno-inflammatory diseases and improve the global access to innovative medicines.

Under the terms of the collaboration agreement, Aurigene and EQRx will collaborate on drug discovery, preclinical and clinical development and commercialization. Aurigene will lead drug discovery and preclinical development efforts, and EQRx will assume responsibility for clinical development, manufacturing, regulatory and commercialization efforts. The parties would share both the funding for the discovery and development of the programs and the finances resulting from the commercialization of potential drug candidates.

“This agreement with EQRx further validates Aurigene’s proven expertise in the discovery and preclinical development of novel therapies and advances Aurigene in building a global oncology franchise participating in the end-to-end value chain,” said Murali Ramachandra, Ph.D., CEO of Aurigene. “We are excited to partner with EQRx and help develop and deliver innovative medicines to patients at more affordable prices.

“We are excited to partner with Aurigene to expand our future pipeline and accelerate the discovery of next-generation therapies,” said Carlos Garcia-Echeverria, PhD, Rx Creative Lead at EQRx. “Our combined efforts will focus on some of the most important therapeutic targets in oncology and immuno-inflammatory diseases. Given our mission, we believe these future programs have the potential to create important treatments for patients and generate significant cost savings for healthcare systems around the world.

About Aurigena

Aurigene Discovery Technologies Limited is a clinical-stage biotechnology company committed to bringing novel therapies for the treatment of cancer and inflammation and a wholly owned subsidiary of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. (BSE: 500124, NSE: DRREDDY, NYSE: RDY, NSEIFSC: DRREDDY). Based in Bengaluru and Kuala Lumpur, Aurigene has developed deep expertise in the field of cancer and inflammatory disorders, and has continuously invested in its human resources and infrastructure over the years. Over two decades of collaboration with pharmaceutical, biotechnology and academic partners, Aurigene has helped deliver 16 small molecule and peptide drug candidates currently in clinical development. Aurigene has also licensed several first-in-class and best-in-class compounds to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies for global clinical development, while undertaking POC clinical studies for a few programs on its own. For more information, please visit Aurigene’s website at www.aurigene.com.