PERTH, AUSTRALIA I July 1, 2013 I Phylogica Ltd (ASX: PYC, XETRA: PH7), a leading Australian peptide drug discovery company, announced today the expansion of its collaboration with Janssen Biotech, Inc. (“Janssen”) to discover, develop and commercialise new classes of peptide drug conjugates derived from Phylogica’s Phylomer drug discovery platform. Phylogica has received an undisclosed payment for funding additional research associated with the expansion of the collaboration.
The agreement with Janssen was originally executed in December 2011. This expansion of the collaboration follows the successful identification of Phylomers that specifically target the tissue-type of interest and internalise a payload within the cell. This screening phase was conducted using Phylogica’s second-generation Phylomer libraries and newly developed technology to detect Phylomer conjugates that not only penetrate cells but, importantly, also deliver their payload functionally within the cell (known as ‘endosomal escape’). Phylogica has recently filed a patent application on this platform enhancement.
Phylogica and Janssen have expanded the collaboration to explore further the ability of the Phylomer conjugates to function within the cell. This additional step is anticipated to take about six months to complete and will further validate Phylogica’s intracellular delivery capabilities.
“We are delighted to expand our collaboration on peptide drug conjugates with Janssen to include additional functional validation of intracellular delivery,” said Dr Paul Watt, Phylogica’s Chief Executive Officer. “Our Phylomer platform offers capabilities to discover unique cell-penetrating peptides and to detect only those peptide conjugates that are functionally active with the cell. This core competence further differentiates Phylogica from its peers and is gaining increasing attention from the pharmaceutical industry.”
About Phylogica
Phylogica Limited (ASX: PYC) is a biotechnology company based in Perth, Australia with a world-class drug discovery platform harnessing the rich biodiversity of nature to discover novel peptide therapeutics. The Company was incorporated in 2001 as a spin out from the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research (Perth, Australia) and the Fox Chase Cancer Centre (Philadelphia, USA). The Company’s drug discovery platform is based on its proprietary Phylomer® libraries containing over 400 billion unique natural peptides, which have been optimised by evolutionary selection to have stable drug-like structures. Phylogica offers fully integrated drug discovery services to the pharmaceutical industry utilising its Phylomer® libraries and proprietary screening technologies. Its current partners include Genentech (a member of the Roche Group), MedImmune (the worldwide biologics arm of AstraZeneca), Pfizer and Janssen.
About Phylomer® Peptides
Phylomer peptides are derived from biodiverse natural sequences, which have been selected by evolution to form stable structures, which can bind tightly, and specifically to disease associated target proteins, both inside and outside cells. Suitable targets for blockade by Phylomers include protein interactions that promote multiple diseases, such as infectious diseases, cancer, autoimmunity and heart disease. Phylomer peptides can have drug-like properties, including specificity, potency and thermal stability, and are capable of being produced by synthetic or recombinant manufacturing processes. Phylomer peptides are also readily formulated for administration by a number of means, including parenteral or intranasal delivery approaches.
SOURCE: Phylogica
Post Views: 365
PERTH, AUSTRALIA I July 1, 2013 I Phylogica Ltd (ASX: PYC, XETRA: PH7), a leading Australian peptide drug discovery company, announced today the expansion of its collaboration with Janssen Biotech, Inc. (“Janssen”) to discover, develop and commercialise new classes of peptide drug conjugates derived from Phylogica’s Phylomer drug discovery platform. Phylogica has received an undisclosed payment for funding additional research associated with the expansion of the collaboration.
The agreement with Janssen was originally executed in December 2011. This expansion of the collaboration follows the successful identification of Phylomers that specifically target the tissue-type of interest and internalise a payload within the cell. This screening phase was conducted using Phylogica’s second-generation Phylomer libraries and newly developed technology to detect Phylomer conjugates that not only penetrate cells but, importantly, also deliver their payload functionally within the cell (known as ‘endosomal escape’). Phylogica has recently filed a patent application on this platform enhancement.
Phylogica and Janssen have expanded the collaboration to explore further the ability of the Phylomer conjugates to function within the cell. This additional step is anticipated to take about six months to complete and will further validate Phylogica’s intracellular delivery capabilities.
“We are delighted to expand our collaboration on peptide drug conjugates with Janssen to include additional functional validation of intracellular delivery,” said Dr Paul Watt, Phylogica’s Chief Executive Officer. “Our Phylomer platform offers capabilities to discover unique cell-penetrating peptides and to detect only those peptide conjugates that are functionally active with the cell. This core competence further differentiates Phylogica from its peers and is gaining increasing attention from the pharmaceutical industry.”
About Phylogica
Phylogica Limited (ASX: PYC) is a biotechnology company based in Perth, Australia with a world-class drug discovery platform harnessing the rich biodiversity of nature to discover novel peptide therapeutics. The Company was incorporated in 2001 as a spin out from the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research (Perth, Australia) and the Fox Chase Cancer Centre (Philadelphia, USA). The Company’s drug discovery platform is based on its proprietary Phylomer® libraries containing over 400 billion unique natural peptides, which have been optimised by evolutionary selection to have stable drug-like structures. Phylogica offers fully integrated drug discovery services to the pharmaceutical industry utilising its Phylomer® libraries and proprietary screening technologies. Its current partners include Genentech (a member of the Roche Group), MedImmune (the worldwide biologics arm of AstraZeneca), Pfizer and Janssen.
About Phylomer® Peptides
Phylomer peptides are derived from biodiverse natural sequences, which have been selected by evolution to form stable structures, which can bind tightly, and specifically to disease associated target proteins, both inside and outside cells. Suitable targets for blockade by Phylomers include protein interactions that promote multiple diseases, such as infectious diseases, cancer, autoimmunity and heart disease. Phylomer peptides can have drug-like properties, including specificity, potency and thermal stability, and are capable of being produced by synthetic or recombinant manufacturing processes. Phylomer peptides are also readily formulated for administration by a number of means, including parenteral or intranasal delivery approaches.
SOURCE: Phylogica
Post Views: 365
