Motorpharma, a Hungarian startup that owns a licence to use and develop a compound that could be used to treat patients suffering from spastic limbs after stroke and other neurological injuries, has signed a drug development contract with US biotech investment firm Aditum Bio „worth about USD 100m”, Motorpharma told.

Motorpharma signed the licence contract for the compound, a myosin-2 inhibitor dubbed MPH-220, with patent holders Printnet and Budapest’s Eotvos Lorand University (ELTE) in the summer.

Part of the patent has been further licenced by Motorpharma to Motric Bio, a joint venture established with Aditum Bio. Motric Bio will pay Motorpharma milestone licencing fees and royalties after the drug is commercialised. Motric Bio will finance the full cost of the drug’s development through phase II clinical trials.

„MPH-220 directly targets the effector proteins of muscle contraction, making it 100pc effective and without adverse effects,” Motorpharma Chief Scientific Officer Mate Gyimesi (on the photo) said.

Motorpharma said it plans to raise its headcount from a handful of employees to 30-40 in the near future.

Aditum Bio, co-founded by former Novartis CEO Joe Jimenez and former President of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) Dr Mark Fishman, announced the establishment of Motric Bio a week earlier.

„Current treatments target the central nervous system, with many causing neurological and cardiovascular side effects. This molecule has shown selectivity to fast skeletal myosin-2, with practically no inhibition of cardiac and smooth muscle myosins. We believe this could lead to greater efficacy and fewer side effects than the current standard of care,” Dr Fishman said.