X-Chem, Inc., a privately held biotechnology company applying its innovative drug discovery platform to the generation of novel small molecule therapeutics, announced today a drug discovery partnership with Almirall, S.A. (Almirall) to discover lead compounds for innovative and challenging targets with dermatology applications.

Under the terms of the agreement, X-Chem will utilize its industry-leading DNA-encoded library (DEX™) screening platform and proprietary informatics tools to search for novel hits for Almirall targets. X-Chem’s DEX libraries enable the screening of vast areas of drug-like chemical space, and support Almirall’s goal of identifying drug-like leads with shorter development timelines. Almirall will assess the biochemical and/or cellular activity, novelty, and in some cases advanced properties of the leads identified under the collaboration. Almirall has the option to license these drug leads, and will be responsible for further development and commercialization of the resulting programs.

Bhushan Hardas, M.D., MBA, Chief Scientific Officer of Almirall, commented, "This agreement takes us one step further in our goal of becoming a leading medical dermatology company. With the cutting edge technology offered by X-Chem and our strong knowledge of the area of dermatology, we will be able to broaden our pipeline and provide further medical solutions for the physicians and patients, specially designed for dermatological diseases with unmet medical needs."

"The treatment of dermatological diseases is an important field of research with unmet medical needs. We are delighted to align with Almirall, a leader in the field, to apply our DEX platform to the discovery of new treatments for patients worldwide," said Rick Wagner, president and CEO of X-Chem.

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