about us
Addex Pharmaceuticals discovers and develops allosteric modulators, small molecule therapeutic agents that may offer more sophisticated ways to normalize biological signaling perturbed by disease compared to classical “orthosteric” agonist or antagonist drugs.
Discovery of allosteric modulators is a scaleable, broadly applicable process that can address a wide variety of therapeutic targets, including some that have not been accessible to classical approaches. Addex has chosen to focus on discovery and development of allosteric modulators that target G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs), a class of receptors that have proven therapeutic utility in many diseases.
The Addex discovery capability has been validated through three deals with big pharma. The first deal, with Johnson & Johnson, is focused on development of allosteric modulators of metabotropic glutamate receptor 2 (mGluR2) for anxiety and schizophrenia. The second and third deals, with Merck & Co., are focused on developing allosteric modulators targeting mGluR4 and mGluR5 to treat Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia, respectively.
The company has a growing pipeline of products in clinical or preclinical development for major market indications including: gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD); migraine; anxiety; smoking cessation; depression; spasticity; type II diabetes and fertility.
In May 2007, Addex completed an initial public offering on the SWX Swiss Exchange, raising CHF137 million ($111 million / €83 million). The IPO was the largest biotech IPO in Europe in three years. Prior to its IPO, Addex had raised CHF 106 million in three venture capital financing rounds. Venture investors included leading firms like Sofinnova Partners, Index Ventures and TVM Capital as well as the investment arms of GlaxoSmithKline (SR One) and Roche (Roche Ventures). See more about the funding history.
Founded in May 2002, Addex is located in Geneva, Switzerland and has a subsidiary in Archamps, France. The rapidly growing company, which had about 90 employees as of 31 December 2007, is actively hiring.
