Zydus Cadila, Karo Bio jointly develops lead compound

MUMBAI : Drug firm Zydus Cadila today said its research collaboration with Sweden-based Karo Bio has started yielding results as they have jointly developed lead compounds for the treatment of inflammatory disorders.

Lead compounds are those new chemical or biological entities which hold the promise of being developed as drugs after extensive research.

"The collaborative effort has generated a series of novel dissociated non-steroidal glucocorticoid agonist lead compounds. These compounds are as potent as conventional steroids but with a significantly reduced potential to cause side-effects," Zydus Cadila said in a filing to Bombay Stock Exchange.

Both companies have entered into a drug discovery collaboration programme in February last year to develop new compounds for treatment of inflammatory disorders.

Conventional steroids are powerful anti-inflammatory agents. They are also associated with a number of side effects which limit their use. The collaborative research programme aims at designing and developing compounds that maintains the anti-inflammatory effects of conventional steroids but with significantly reduced side effects, the company said. Lead compounds are under going various preclinical evaluations, it added.