Phylogica Ltd, a public Australian drug discovery company, announced that they have entered into an agreement with MedImmune to evaluate Phylogica’s proprietary Phylomer peptide library for novel antimicrobial peptides.  The agreement between MedImmune, the worldwide biologics unit of AstraZeneca PLC, and Phylogica establishes a plan for collaborative discovery between the companies, with potential development and commercialization of resulting novel antibiotics by MedImmune.

The discovery efforts will utilise Phylogica’s proprietary Phylomer® peptide libraries and high-throughput screening capabilities to identify drug candidates with potent activity against the gram-negative bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This highly prevalent, opportunistic pathogen is one of the most common causes of hospital-acquired infections, which can be life-threatening for patients with pneumonia or cystic fibrosis.

Under the terms of the agreement, Phylogica will receive an upfront payment of US$750k and an additional US$750k in committed research funding for an initial 12-month term. In addition, Phylogica is eligible to receive development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments of up to US$98 million, in addition to royalties on potential worldwide sales.

Dr Paul Watt, the founder and CEO of Phylogica said “We are excited to be working with MedImmune, a world leader in the successful development of novel biological drugs to treat infectious diseases. This alliance underscores the versatility and substantial opportunity of Phylomer peptides, which have potent activity on challenging targets such as found in multi-drug resistant bacteria.”

Existing rights to Phylogica’s internal program of antimicrobial Phylomer peptides directed against multi-resistant bacteria are retained by the company under this agreement.

Date: August 18, 2010
Source: Phylogica Ltd