Founded in 2007, The Alizé Pharma Group is a group of privately held biopharmaceutical companies specialized in the development of innovative therapeutics for the treatment of metabolic diseases and cancer.

The Group acquires R&D programs from public or private laboratories, selecting them according to strict criteria, with particular concern for medical needs and innovation. It then handles preclinical and clinical development and establishes partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry via co-development or out-licensing agreements. Alizé Pharma considers its main added value to be in the expertise of its team who is specialized in drug development and able to bring many years of successful experience in this field.

The first of the two entities of the Group, Alizé Pharma SAS., is dedicated to AZP-01, a program based on a new therapeutic target for the treatment of Type II diabetes. This molecule and its analogs are derived from unacylated ghrelin, a natural peptide. This program is being developed in collaboration with Erasmus University Medical Center (Rotterdam), the Netherlands, and University of Torino, Italy. Available preclinical and preliminary clinical data suggest that unacylated ghrelin analogs have a therapeutic potential in diabetes through a novel mechanism of action that includes a proliferative effect of beta cells, insulin-sensitizing actions as well as glucose and lipid-lowering effects. They have the potential not only to control the disease but also to have a positive impact on other cardiovascular risk factors such as obesity, dyslipidemia and vascular remodeling. The parent molecule and its analogs are protected by four patent families worldwide.

The second program, AZP-02, named ASPAREC®, is developed within Alizé Pharma II SAS, the second entity of the Group. It aims at designing and developing a long-acting recombinant L-asparaginase product with reduced immunogenicity for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and other onco-haematological disorders. In May 2008, the Alizé Pharma Group announced that it had acquired a recombinant L-asparaginase project from EUSA Pharma Inc., in order to accelerate the implementation of the ASPAREC® program. A first patent application was filed in 2009 for the ASPAREC® product.

The Alizé Pharma group is based in Ecully, near Lyon, France. Its management is made up of a team of drug development experts and a board of directors offering wide international experience. Overall, the group has raised EUR 4.8 million from private and institutional investors since its inception. Participating investors in the financing rounds completed so far include Octalfa SAS, a French holding company owned by Gilles Alberici, PhD, former Founder and President of OPi SA; CEMA Inc., a Canadian holding company owned by André de Villers, MD, former Founder, President & CEO of Theratechnologies Inc (TH.TO) and Celmed Biosciences Inc; and SHAM, a Lyon-based insurance company specialized in medical malpractice liability insurance.