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Phylogica signs asthma research agreement |
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28 Sep 2007 |
Phylogica Limited announced today that it had signed a Research Collaboration Agreement with the prestigious Swiss Institute of Allergy & Asthma Research (SIAF)
PERTH, Australia | September 27, 2007 | Phylogica Limited (ASX: PYC) announced today that it had signed a Research Collaboration Agreement with the prestigious Swiss Institute of Allergy & Asthma Research (SIAF). The collaboration involves the screening of Phylogica’s proprietary Phylomerlibraries for potential vaccine leads for the treatment of allergies and asthma. The project will be led by prominent researcher Professor Reto Crameri, who heads the Molecular Allergology Group at SIAF.
If successful, the program will generate novel vaccine antigens that can be developed for allergen immunotherapy – the desensitisation of allergic individuals to common antigens like bee venom and birch pollen. Moreover, this technology has applicability for the common house dust mite, pollen and grass allergies. Approximately 56 million Americans suffer from allergic rhinitis and studies indicate that the prevalence of allergic rhinitis is increasing in the US and throughout the World. Just the annual cost of treating allergic rhinitis in the US exceeds US$3 billion.
“We believe that there will be a need for defined allergen mimetics for use in programs such as allergy desensitisation, as regulatory agencies like the US FDA are becoming more stringent in their requirements for use of defined chemical entities rather than crude allergen mixes extracted from natural sources,” said Dr Paul Watt, VP Drug Discovery at Phylogica. “In pursuing this project, we are also glad to have the opportunity to work with Professor Crameri, who is an acknowledged expert in the area of allergen mimetics and immunotherapy,” added Dr Watt.
Phylogica Ltd
Phylogica is a biopharmaceutical company with an advanced technology (known as Phylomer® peptides) that is being applied to develop a new class of drugs for emergency treatment of burns, traumatic brain injury and other inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis. Phylogica was founded by the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth (www.ichr.uwa.edu.au) and the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, United States (www.fccc.edu). (ASX: PYC) (www.phylogica.com)
About Phylomer® peptides
Phylomer® peptides are stable fragments of naturally-occurring proteins with the ability to bind tightly to target proteins and inactivate them as a result. Phylomer® peptides can be selected for activity against specific disease target proteins. The properties of Phylomer® peptides make them attractive as cost-effective alternatives to antibodies a proven multi-billion drug class. Phylogica's proprietary Phylomer® libraries are collections of millions of Phylomer® peptides that represent a source of drug leads which can be used for multiple diseases.
About Swiss Institute of Allergy & Asthma Research (SIAF)
SIAF (http://www.siaf.unizh.ch) is one of the leading institutions in the world, which is dedicated to the study of Allergy. The SIAF has contributed with original work and key findings in all fields of allergy and in some cases has changed the view of current understanding of the mechanisms leading to allergic inflammation diseases such as asthma, eczema and hay-fever. The work at SIAF generated during the last year a total of 89 scientific publications, with 27 publications cited more than 100 times. Several members of SIAF have teaching responsibilities at the Universities of Zurich and Salzburg.
SOURCE: Phylogica Limited |
