Pepscan, Phylogica collaborate for Phylomer peptide lead optimisation

Phylogica Ltd (ASX: PYC, XETRA: PH7), a leading Australian peptide drug discovery company, and Pepscan Therapeutics, a Dutch biopharmaceutical firm focusing on protein mimicry technology, today announce that they have entered a Research Collaboration and Option Agreement to evaluate the combination of their complementary peptide technologies for drug discovery. Under the terms of the agreement, Pepscan using its CLIPS technology will work with Phylogica to optimise novel therapeutic Phylomer drug candidates against CD40-ligand for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune diseases and inflammatory disorders. Phylogica will also have an option to expand the collaboration to include an undisclosed number of other disease-associated targets. Financial details were not disclosed

Phylogica's CEO, Dr Paul Watt, said: "We are excited to be working with Pepscan, which has world-class technology for improving the activity and stability of therapeutic peptides. We strongly believe that the combination of Pepscan's CLIPS technology with our potent Phylomer peptides will further enhance our ability to generate breakthrough drug candidates against difficult-to-treat diseases."

Dr Wim Mol, CEO of Pepscan, said: "We jointly recognise the perfect match of our combined technologies - Phylogica providing truly innovative peptide leads, and Pepscan applying its state-of-the-art CLIPS technology for peptide lead optimisation. We therefore believe that this agreement only forms the start of a promising and productive relationship between our two companies."