Avillion LLP, a co-developer and financier of late-stage pharmaceutical product candidates, announces that it has signed a clinical co-development agreement with Merck (Darmstadt, Germany), a leading science and technology company, to advance Merck's anti IL-17 A/F Nanobody® in plaque psoriasis.
Anti IL-17 A/F Nanobody® is an investigational therapy that has completed Phase I development, and is expected to begin Phase II in plaque psoriasis in 2017. Avillion will be responsible for developing anti IL-17 A/F Nanobody® from Phase II through Phase III. Avillion will also finance the clinical programme through to regulatory submission. No financial terms are disclosed.
Allison Jeynes-Ellis, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Avillion, said: "We are delighted to embark on this new clinical co-development project with Merck and its innovative nanobody candidate. This agreement is a further endorsement of our innovative business model and follows the success of our Phase III programme with Pfizer for BOSULIF® (bosutinib) in chronic myeloid leukaemia. We are very encouraged that our collaborative approach to advancing the development of clinical candidates and boosting our partners' R&D productivity is gaining such awareness in the biopharma industry."
"The collaboration announced today with Avillion will allow us to optimally deliver on the potential of IL-17, a compound which could address several areas of unmet need for patients today," said Belén Garijo, member of the Executive Board of Merck and CEO Healthcare . "In parallel, we have several highly-promising priority clinical assets in our pipeline, all of which we must continue to drive in-house. By partnering appropriately, not only can we maintain the internal focus on our R&D innovation strategy, but also maximize other opportunities that emerge from our pipeline."
Anti IL-17 A/F Nanobody® is an investigational bi-specific half-life extended nanobody that is thought to neutralise both IL-17A and IL-17F with the potential to treat inflammatory diseases. Due to the small size and unique structure of Nanobodies®, they could be an ideal building block for a new generation of novel biological drugs. Merck acquired full, exclusive rights to anti IL-17 A/F Nanobody® through a global development and commercialization deal with Ablynx in 2013.