Phylogica partnership with Pfizer hits first milestone

A collaboration between peptide-based drug discovery company Phylogica (ASX:PYC) and Pfizer has yielded its first milestone payment for the Australian biotech.

The collaboration, which began in December 2010, saw Phylogica employ its Phylomer peptide libraries and screening technology to identify novel peptide drug candidates.

Phylogica reports that it has identified several peptides that will be further evaluated as potential vaccines against an undisclosed target.

“We are very pleased to report the successful completion of the initial phase of our collaboration with Pfizer,” said Phylogica CEO Dr Paul Watt.

“We have identified multiple novel phylomers that meet the criteria required for further evaluation by Pfizer. This provides additional support for the potential value of our phylomer libraries as a source of novel peptide drug candidates.”

The milestone payment to Phylogica was for an undisclosed amount.

Phylogica (ASX:PYC) is currently trading at 5.7c.