LONDON, March 30, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
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.
About Avillion
Avillion LLP is a drug development company with an innovative
business model focusing on the clinical co-development and
regulatory approval of late stage pharmaceutical products. Avillion
offers a compelling opportunity to partner late-stage therapeutic
projects for approval in the US and EU and to accelerate their
availability to the market. Our objective is to enable our partners
to continue to develop the drug candidates in their pipeline at the
highest quality without increasing the burden on their P&L or
cash reserves. Avillion can achieve this by incurring 100% of the
clinical and regulatory risk, while advancing the development of
these late-stage assets in return for milestone payments on the
commercialisation of successfully developed products.
Avillion was founded in 2012 in London, UK, and is backed by Abingworth,
Clarus Ventures and Royalty Pharma. For more details, please visit:
http://www.avillionllp.com
About Merck
Merck is a leading science and technology company in healthcare,
life science and performance materials. Around 50,000 employees
work to further develop technologies that improve and enhance life
- from biopharmaceutical therapies to treat cancer or multiple
sclerosis, cutting-edge systems for scientific research and
production, to liquid crystals for smartphones and LCD televisions.
In 2015, Merck generated sales of € 12.85 billion in 66
countries.
Founded in 1668, Merck is the world's oldest pharmaceutical and
chemical company. The founding family remains the majority owner of
the publicly listed corporate group. The company holds the global
rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are
the United States and Canada, where the company operates as EMD
Serono, MilliporeSigma and EMD Performance Materials.