As if the partnerships with Boston Pharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, and Servier were not enough for the biotech firm, Pieris Pharma has made a merger and licensing contract with Roche’s Genentech that might be worth more than $1.4 billion for numerous initiatives, in addition to royalty payments for marketing.
Genentech will pay an upfront payment of $20 million to the new biotherapeutics firm located in Boston to collaborate on locally delivered respiratory and ophthalmic medications by using the unique Anticalin technology of Pieris pharmaceuticals.
On the news, Pieris stock was trading at $2.48/share, which is approximately 34% higher.
“This is our second respiratory alliance with a major biopharma company, and we remain deeply committed to inhaled biologics, which have already shown benefit in the clinic. We also look forward to pursuing another local application of our technology in ophthalmology, where Genentech has extensive capabilities,” Stephen Yoder, CEO, and president of Pieris stated in a statement.
According to both firms, Pieris will be in charge of drug discovery and its pre-clinical development, whereas Genentech will be responsible for the clinical development and marketing of drugs.
Pieris has received a sew of funding and agreements from the big pharmaceutical companies in recent years as a result of the deal with Genentech. Pieris stated in its quarterly financial report that AstraZeneca has paid $23 million for a worldwide phase 2a clinical trial of an inhaled Interleukin-4 (IL-4) receptor a-blocker, which is used to treat mild to severe asthma, and the results are anticipated in 2022.
Last month, Pieris has also signed a deal with Boston Pharmaceuticals to manufacture a bispecific immuno-oncology antibody fusion protein. Pieris might get an additional $353 million for achieving milestones in regulatory, research, and sales under the terms of the agreement, including a $10 million upfront payment.
All of this came after Pieris received a $13 million investment from Seagen as a part of their long-term relationship.
Ingmar Burns, Pieris’ Chief of clinical development, left the company to join Trillium Therapeutics as Chief medical officer.
