Berg and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Announce R&D Partnership for Drug Discovery and Development

FRAMINGHAM, Mass., Oct. 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Berg, a biopharmaceutical company committed to a data-driven, biological research approach and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai announced today a pharmaceutical and diagnostic R&D partnership that will leverage the power of multi-omic biology and data analytics to obtain novel insights and potential therapeutics for cancer, central nervous system and endocrine disorders. Over the course of this five-year partnership, Berg will leverage its award-winning Interrogative Biology™ platform in combination with Mount Sinai's expertise in big data, advanced analytics and biological network modeling.

Berg and Mount Sinai will adopt an innovative risk and return sharing approach, with downstream royalties significantly higher than the industry standard for academia-pharma partnerships. "The partnership with Mount Sinai flips the traditional public-private partnership model and sets a new standard for pharmaceutical research and development," said Niven R. Narain, Co-Founder, President and CTO of Berg.  "Innovation in the healthcare industry extends far beyond scientific and technological advances. In order to address some of the world's worst health crises, we need to be open to such new and innovative ways of working together.  The fusion of our technologies and expertise are the perfect match to change medicine."

"We are living in an amazing time where new technologies are generating a tremendous amount of health data on an unprecedented scale, revealing novel insights into the mechanism of disease," said Eric Schadt, PhD, The Jean C. and James W. Crystal Professor of Genomics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Director of the Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology, part of the Mount Sinai Health System. "Working with Berg, we plan to analyze big data and create predictive models to discern similarities and differences in disease patterns, identify the most effective treatment and diagnostics, and ultimately, provide better care for our patients."

Over the course of this partnership, Berg and Mount Sinai will engage in research projects involving the fields of genomics, proteomics, lipidomics, metabolomics and functional phenotypes with the goal to advance treatment options for cancer, CNS and endocrine disorders, as well as inflammation and obesity, and infectious and rare disease patients. Additionally, the partnership hopes to develop diagnostic tools to improve pharmacovigilance, diagnosis of disease and markers of therapeutic efficacy. The agreement was negotiated by Mount Sinai Innovation Partners, which encourages commercialization and partnership opportunities for novel research conducted at Mount Sinai.

About the Berg Interrogative Biology™ Platform
Berg's application of Artificial Intelligence in biology and medicine allows for a combination of systems biology and systems engineering leading to well defined answers on human health. The Berg Interrogative Biology™ platform integrates molecular data directly from a patient with clinical and demographic information to learn predictive patterns. The platform has the potential to provide the physician with actionable information to recommend efficient and safe treatment pathways, insurance companies with health economics analyses to develop more relevant formulary, and governments with a data ecosystem for financial modeling of healthcare needs of the population.

Using the Interrogative Biology platform, the company has successfully harnessed the ability of its lead oncology candidate, BPM 31510. Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials of a topical formulation of BPM 31510 for the treatment of skin cancers have completed, as has a Phase 1 dose escalation clinical trial of an intravenous formulation of BPM 31510 for the treatment of solid tumors. In addition, BPM 31543 indicated to prevent chemotherapy-induced alopecia is currently in Phase I trials.

About Berg
Berg, the namesake of Carl Berg, is a biopharmaceutical company comprised on three divisions: Berg Pharma, Berg Biosystems and Berg Diagnostics. Our research focus seeks to understand how alterations in metabolism relate to disease onset. We have uncovered key insight into metabolic control factors and namely into underlying elements in the Warburg Hypothesis. The company has a deep pipeline of early-stage technologies in CNS diseases and metabolic diseases that complement its late-stage clinical trial activity in cancer and prevention of chemotoxicity. Armed with use of the discovery platform that translates biological output into viable therapeutics and a robust biomarker library, Berg is poised to realize its pursuit of a healthier tomorrow.

About the Mount Sinai Health System
The Mount Sinai Health System is an integrated health system committed to providing distinguished care, conducting transformative research, and advancing biomedical education. Structured around seven member hospital campuses and a single medical school, the Health System has an extensive ambulatory network and a range of inpatient and outpatient services—from community-based facilities to tertiary and quaternary care.
 
The System includes approximately 6,600 primary and specialty care physicians, 12-minority-owned free-standing ambulatory surgery centers, over 45 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, and Long Island, as well as 31 affiliated community health centers. Physicians are affiliated with the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the top 20 medical schools both in National Institutes of Health funding and by U.S. News & World Report.

About Mount Sinai Innovation Partners
Mount Sinai Innovation Partners (MSIP), part of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, facilitates the transfer of discovery from the laboratory to the marketplace, acting as the interface with commercial entities.

MSIP is responsible for the full spectrum of commercialization activities required to bring the Icahn School of Medicine's inventions to life. These activities include evaluating, patenting, marketing, and licensing new technologies, while also negotiating agreements for sponsored research, material transfer, and confidentiality. For more information on MSIP, visit: www.ip.mountsinai.org

Media Contacts:

Mount Sinai Press Office
212-241-9200
[email protected]

Chris Wahlers
Ogilvy Public Relations
212-880-5293
[email protected]

Investor Contact:

Tom Smith
Ogilvy Public Relations
212-880-5269
[email protected]  

SOURCE Berg

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