In January 2023, CombiGene AB (“CombiGene”, the “Company”) and the Danish company Zyneyro ApS announced a collaboration agreement regarding the continued development of Zyneyro's program for the treatment of chronic pain conditions. Today, CombiGene and Zyneyro announce the formation of a joint Scientific Advisory Board that will support the continued development of this program.

The Scientific Advisory Board consists of three world-leading experts in pain management – Lars Arendt-Nielsen, Professor of Pain Research, Aalborg University and Aalborg University Hospital, Andrew Rice, Professor of Pain Research, Imperial College London, and David Bennett, Professor of Neurology and Neurobiology, University of Oxford. The principal function of the advisory board will be to give CombiGene and Zyneyro critical scientific review and advice of the peptide project COZY01 and the gene therapy COZY02, which together make up the pain program.

“The formation of the Scientific Advisory Board is an important step in the development of the pain program COZY. During the first half of 2023 we have been hard at work to plan and man the next important steps in this potentially groundbreaking drug candidate. With the enormous expertise represented in the Scientific Advisory Board, we further strengthen the scientific resources and the clinical expertise within the program. I am delighted that we now have the advisory board in place, and I am really looking forward to our first meeting,” says Alvar Grönberg, Senior Program Director at CombiGene.

Full details of the members of the Scientific Advisory Board:
 
Lars Arendt-Nielsen
Head of Research, Professor, Dr Med, PhD, FRSM, FIAMBE Aalborg University Hospital
Aalborg University
Faculty of Medicine
Center for Neuroplasticity and Pain
Translational Biomarkers in Pain and Precision Medicine

Andrew Rice
MD FRCP FRCA FFPMRCA FFPMCAI
Professor of Pain Research,
Department of Surgery and Cancer,
Imperial College London,
and Honorary Consultant in Pain Medicine at, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital (participating on an independent basis via Imperial Consultants).

David Bennett
MB PhD, FRCP, FMedSci
Professor of Neurology and Neurobiology,
Head of the Division of Clinical Neurology,
Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences,
The University of Oxford,
Honorary Consultant Neurologist Oxford University Hospitals,
Senior Research Fellow Green Templeton College.

About the pain program COZY
Chronic pain can be devastating for those affected. The disease also leads to enormous costs for society. Between six and eight percent of the adult population is estimated to suffer from severe chronic pain, and the societal costs of chronic pain are estimated at USD 635 billion annually in the US alone.

Conventional treatment consists mainly of anti-inflammatory drugs, antidepressants, anticonvulsant drugs and opioids (a group of substances with a morphine-like mechanism of action).

The problem with these treatments is that they are not specifically developed to treat chronic pain. The pain relief that is achieved therefore often has a number of debilitating side effects such as substance abuse problems, depression, anxiety, fatigue, reduced physical and mental ability.

The COZY program is being developed to address these enormous challenges by offering effective pain relief without the problems that today's drugs can bring.