On November 24, 2021 Philogen S.p.A., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on antibody and small molecule-based targeted therapeutics, reported that its wholly-owned Swiss subsidiary, Philochem AG, has entered into a new collaboration and option agreement with Janssen Biotech, Inc., one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, to discover new small molecules of pharmaceutical interest utilizing Philochem’s novel lead-generation technologies (Press release, Philogen, NOV 24, 2021, View Source [SID1234596021]). The agreement was facilitated by Johnson & Johnson Innovation.
Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:
Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing
Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!
Under the terms of the agreement, Philochem will work with Janssen to apply its proprietary DNA-encoded chemical library technology platform, seeking to identify small molecule compounds that bind to specific targets. Janssen may exercise the options to use these identified ligands as candidates for further drug discovery and development activities.
Prof. Dario Neri, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Philogen commented: "We are pleased to establish another collaboration with Janssen and we hope our technology will contribute to providing innovative treatments for serious unmet medical needs."
Philogen’s main focus is on the discovery and development of targeted anti-cancer therapeutics, which selectively accumulate at the site of disease helping spare normal tissue. Besides the successful development of antibody-cytokine fusions, Philogen has used its encoded library platform to identify small organic ligands with ultra-high affinity for tumor-associated antigens. These ligands are used for the selective delivery of diagnostic and therapeutic payloads including radionuclides or cytotoxic drugs to the site of disease. This approach is complementary to the use of antibody-cytokine fusions and the small molecule product candidates developed by Philogen have already obtained clinical proof-of-principle validation.
No financial details of the agreement were disclosed.