India’s Zydus Cadila has linked up with Pieris of Germany to develop the latter’s therapeutic proteins called anticalins.
The latter are recombinantly engineered versions of human lipocalins. The most advanced programme in the collaboration is PRS-110, an anticalin specific for c-Met, which the firms note is “a target becoming increasingly validated across a broad spectrum of tumours”.
Under the terms of agreement, the financials for which have not been disclosed,
Zydus has been granted exclusive marketing rights in India and several other emerging markets. Pieris will retain them in key developed markets.
Zydus chairman Pankaj Patel said that working with established biotech companies on differentiated drug candidates is an important component of his company’s “ongoing transformation into an innovation-led global healthcare provider and we are pleased to add anticalin to our novel biologics pipeline”. Pieris chief executive Stephen Yoder, said that with Zydus’ state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities “and seasoned drug development team, this collaboration will allow Pieris to unlock value on a global scale in a cost-effective manner”.
Privately-held Pieris, which says its pipeline covers a range of indications including cancer, anaemia and autoimmune disease, also has collaborations with Daiichi Sankyo, Sanofi and Allergan.
