Partnership with Denmark-based Lundbeck continues Gene Logic’s new drug strategy

Gaithersburg (Map, News) - Gaithersburg-based Gene Logic Inc. announced a partnership Thursday with another drug company that will aid it in a new business strategy.

The company has entered into an agreement with Denmark-based H. Lundbeck A/S that allows it to develop drug candidates that Lundbeck is no longer interested in pursuing.

The strategy is called drug repositioning and allows Gene Logic to do work on drugs that Lundbeck discontinued for reasons other than safety.

“It really is our focus right now,” Gene Logic spokesman Christopher Culotta said. The company has six other partnerships in various stages in development, after launching the business unit in late 2005.

Gene Logic uses technology to test a particular compound for various applications; it goes into the process without theories on how the drug might be used, said Bethany Mancilla, vice president of business development for the company.

“We take a disease-agnostic approach,” Mancilla said. Lundbeck specializes in treatments for central nervous system disorders.

Drug repositioning is often a viable strategy for pharmaceutical companies, said Dr. Richard Kouri, director of the BioPharma Management Initiative at North Carolina State University College of Management. Often, larger companies don’t think the potential profit from a compound is worth the effort, though a smaller company may think differently. Another company might also be better positioned to sell and market a particular application, he said.

melissa.frederick@dcexaminer.com