Sandoz teams up to drive cutting-edge digital solutions in global fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

• Strategic collaboration agreement with Curetis subsidiary Ares Genetics to develop digital platform for development and life-cycle management of antibiotics
• Program will combine established microbiology laboratory techniques with advanced bioinformatics and AI methods
• Short-term focus on repurposing existing antibiotics to treat infections involving multi-drug-resistant pathogens

Holzkirchen, December 18, 2018 – Sandoz today announces the signature of a strategic collaboration agreement with Ares Genetics GmbH, to jointly develop a digital platform for development and life-cycle management of antibiotics.

The agreement with Ares Genetics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Curetis N.V. and Curetis GmbH, will allow Sandoz to leverage the Ares Genetics database on genetics of antibiotic resistance, ARESdb, and the ARES Technology Platform for development of the Sandoz Anti-Infectives portfolio.

“Antibiotics are the cornerstone of modern medicine, but AMR represents an increasingly serious threat to global public health. As the world’s leading provider of high-quality antibiotics, our goal at Sandoz is to play a key role in combatting this threat,” said Harshika Sarbajna, Global Head of Anti-Infectives, Sandoz.

Sandoz AI medical lead Nick Adomakoh added: “This collaboration is a key step towards that goal, allowing us to leverage our collective capabilities to take the fight directly to AMR, by using cutting-edge big data and AI approaches combined with traditional data sets. We believe that this approach can substantially increase the efficiency and effectiveness of our efforts to combat AMR with existing medicines, while also helping us to develop new, value-added therapies that are less prone to resistance.”

Sandoz and ARES intend to develop a digital anti-infectives platform combining established microbiology laboratory methods with advanced bioinformatics and AI methods to support drug development and life-cycle management.

In the short to midterm, the collaboration aims to rapidly and cost-effectively repurpose existing antibiotics and design value added medicines, with the objective of expanding indication areas and overcoming antibiotic resistance. In the longer term, the platform would inform development of novel anti-infectives that are less prone to resistance, thus helping to preserve antibiotics as an effective treatment option.

The agreement covers the first phases of the collaboration, during which Sandoz will provide agreed R&D funding to Ares Genetics. Further financial details are not being disclosed.

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About Sandoz

Sandoz is a global leader in generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars. As a division of the Novartis Group, our purpose is to discover new ways to improve and extend people’s lives. We contribute to society’s ability to support growing healthcare needs by pioneering novel approaches to help people around the world access high-quality medicine. Our portfolio of approximately 1000 molecules, covering all major therapeutic areas, accounted for 2017 sales of USD 10.1 billion. In 2017, our products reached well over 500 million patients. Sandoz is headquartered in Holzkirchen, in Germany’s Greater Munich area.

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