HKU and the Servier Research Group Join Hands to Develop a New Line of Pharmaceutical Products in the field of Osteogenesis

The University of Hong Kong announced on August 9, 2010 that it has collaborated with the Servier Research Group, the second largest French pharmaceutical company, on the research and development of drugs for osteogenesis.

A research group from the Department of Chemistry of the University, led by Professor Chi-Ming Che, will design and synthesize new compounds having high therapeutic potential based on the invention by Professor Che and his team under the auspices of the Area of Excellence Program on the Institute of Molecular Technology for Drug Discovery and Synthesis. The research group will work closely with Servier to screen the biological activities of these compounds. Servier will develop, manufacture and market the corresponding pharmaceutical products.

Professor Che, the principal investigator, possesses expertise in Synthetic Chemistry, including Coordination Chemistry and Organic Synthesis, and Medicinal Inorganic Chemistry. He has developed a panel of new efficient chemical methods whereby bioactive organic compounds with diverse structures and complexity can be readily obtained by metal catalyzed organic reactions with high atom economy.

The objective of this collaboration is to develop a new line of pharmaceutical products for osteogenesis. Professor Che, with the assistance of Professor Paul Vanhoutte and the BioPharmaceutical Development Centre of the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, will design and synthesize new compounds and will perform preliminary screening of biological activities. Servier will further investigate the efficacy of these compounds and conduct subsequent pharmaceutical development.