CQDM will partner with Feldan Therapeutics to support a $1.2M project, to improve a novel intra-cellular delivery technology

QUÉBEC city, March 29, 2018 – CQDM is pleased to announce the selection of a new Quantum Leap project jointly with Feldan Therapeutics for a total amount of $1.2M. The funds will be used for further development of a breakthrough drug delivery technology, in collaboration with Professor Frédéric Calon from Laval University.

CQDM’s support for this project is made possible by a contribution from the Ministry of Economy, Science and Innovation (MESI) of the government of Quebec, together with funding from three CQDM industrial members: Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline, and Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. Upon finalization of the research agreement, the funding will be deployed toward the optimization of a novel intracellular delivery technologydeveloped by Feldan Therapeutics, the Feldan Shuttle.

Feldan Therapeutics is a biotechnology company based in Quebec City that is working, through its proprietary platform (Feldan Shuttle), to develop medical applications at the cutting edge of drug delivery. The Feldan Shuttle, by chaperoning therapeutic proteins into cells, including antibodies and peptides, will expand access to new therapeutic targets that have been difficult or impossible to pursue with traditional small molecule drugs. For example, biologic drugs such as antibodies have the advantage of being highly specific and represent high potential molecules in drug development, but have been limited thus far to targeting the surface of cells. Combining the Feldan Shuttle with antibodies allows intracellular targeting, a feat that drastically expands the reach of these types of protein-based drugs.

“Dr Calon and his team’s expertise and know-how in pharmacology will definitely be central elements in testing and improving the Feldan Shuttle’s ability to deliver biologics in vivo. Moreover, we are proud of the involvement of global pharmaceutical companies such as Sanofi, GlaxoSmithKline and Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, as this indicates interest and confidence in our technology and its potential use in the development of novel therapies,” said François-Thomas Michaud, CEO of Feldan Therapeutics.

The findings generated from the project will provide a stepping-stone for Feldan to better understand and optimize in vivo intracellular delivery of biologics and may open the door to numerous future industry collaborations.

“CQDM is very proud to support this project as it will allow Feldan, an early stage Quebec company, to position its platform for eventual use in human clinical studies. The platform represents a new modality that can expand the spectrum of therapeutic targets when treating diseases with high unmet medical need. In addition, this private and public partnership once again demonstrates that companies with exciting technologies continue to thrive in Quebec and are recognized by global industry partners. Feldan together with other like-minded companies is helping to build a strong base of local expertise in therapeutic drug delivery,” said Steve Xanthoudakis, Chief Business Development Officer of CQDM.

About CQDM
CQDM is a pharma-based consortium whose mission is to fund the development of innovative tools and technologies that accelerate drug discovery. Unique in the world, CQDM’s business model is based on a collaborative approach where all stakeholders share the costs of biopharmaceutical research and benefit from its results. CQDM also provides a common meeting ground where academia, governments, and the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries converge to address numerous complex medical challenges. Industrial members of CQDM include Merck, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly Canada, Janssen, Novartis Pharma Canada, Sanofi Canada, Servier as well as from Quebec’s Ministry of Economy, Science and Innovation (MESI) and from the Government of Canada under the Business-Led Networks of Centres of Excellence Program (BL-NCE). For more information: www.cqdm.org .

About Feldan Inc. 
Feldan Therapeutics is a company dedicated to developing therapeutic applications in regenerative medicine based on the Feldan Shuttle platform, a breakthrough peptide-based delivery system allowing introduction of foreign proteins inside cells. The Feldan Shuttle overcomes delivery obstacles in therapeutic context by providing a safe and highly efficient approach that alleviates manipulation complexity and that is associated with low regulatory burden. The Shuttle platform has been successfully used to transfer active nucleases, antibodies and other proteins and transcription factors inside several types of cells. Moreover, preliminary results in rodents suggest that the Shuttle has a promising potential for in vivo applications. For more information:www.feldan.com .

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For additional information, please contact:

François-Thomas Michaud
Tel: 418 872 7277, ext 337
Email: ftmichaud@feldan.com
  Steve Xanthoudakis
Tel: 514 766 6661, ext 2196
Email: sxanthoudakis@cqdm.org

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