Pfizer has signed a nanomedicines pact with Bind Therapeutics in a deal which could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the privately-held US biopharma firm.
The companies will work together on “a new class of highly selective targeted and programmable therapeutics”, which Bind calls Accurins, utilising select small molecule targeted therapies. The hope is that using Bind’s ‘medicinal nanoengineering’ platform, treatments can be developed that outperform conventional drugs by selectively accumulating in diseased tissues and cells. This may result in higher drug concentrations at the site of action with minimal off-target exposure, “leading to markedly better efficacy and safety”.
Cashwise, Bind could receive $50 million in upfront and development fees and $160 million in regulatory and sales milestone payments for each Accurin commercialised, plus tiered royalties. The firms are not saying how many Accurins they are working on, nor in which areas, but Bind, which changed its name from Bind Biosciences this week, notes that it has been focusing on oncology, inflammatory diseases and cardiovascular disorders; its lead candidate, BIND-014, is currently in Phase I in cancer patients.
Bind chief executive Scott Minick said that Pfizer is “an outstanding partner and this agreement demonstrates the potential of our platform”. This is the second Accurin collaboration the company has signed, after partnering with Amgen in January, “and further validates the importance of targeted nanomedicines as a strategic technology for the pharmaceutical industry,” he added.
