Phylogica advances collaboration with Janssen

Phylogica (ASX:PYC) has expanded its peptide-drug conjugate discovery collaboration with Janssen Biotech.

The companies have been working together since December 2011 to identify peptides from within Phylogica’s Phylomer libraries that target a specific type of cell tissue and can deliver a drug cargo within a cell.

Phylogica said it had successfully identified some candidates using its patent-pending second-generation screening technologies.

The partners will now move on exploring the ability of the candidates to function within cells, a research phase expected to take around six months.

Phylogica revealed it has received funding from Janssen for this additional research but did not disclose the sum.

“We are delighted to expand our collaboration on peptide drug conjugates with Janssen to include additional functional validation of intracellular delivery," Phylogica CEO Dr Paul Watt said.

Phylogica uses its extensive Phylomer peptide libraries to provide drug-discovery services to the pharmaceutical industry.

The company is involved in a separate drug-discovery collaboration with Pfizer, worth up to US$134.5 million ($138.4 million), and has other major pharmaceutical industry partners including Roche and MedImmune.

Phylogica shares were trading unchanged at $0.019 as of around 12.30 pm on Tuesday.