The Chiesi Group and Affibody AB have announced a collaboration and licensing agreement aimed at developing and commercialising innovative treatments for respiratory diseases.

The partnership will see both companies utilise Affibody’s proprietary technology to progress up to three programmes against undisclosed targets for respiratory diseases.

Italy-based biopharma Chiesi will fund all discovery, development and subsequent commercialisation worldwide alone, with Affibody retaining the option to co-promote in the Nordic region.

The small size of Affibody’s molecules in combination with their robustness allows for the unique attributes explored under this collaboration, the companies explained, such as broad distribution and sustained exposure in the lung, as seen in preclinical models.

David Bejker, chief executive officer of Affibody, said: “This collaboration with Chiesi accelerates Affibody’s strategic development and further reinforces the competitiveness of our technology which has now been validated both clinically and commercially.

“We acknowledge and appreciate Chiesi’s significant commitment and expertise in the development of inhaled drugs and believe that this partnership will help maximise the value of inhaled Affibody molecules.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Affibody is eligible to receive milestone payments of up to $214m, as well as mid-single to low double-digit royalties on sales for the first programme.

The agreement also has the option of being expanded to a total of three programmes, the companies outlined, in which case Affibody is eligible for milestone payments up to $637m plus royalties.

Thomas Eichholtz, head of global research and development at Chiesi Group, said: “Our collaboration with Affibody adds an important new modality to our R&D portfolio that has particularly interesting properties for inhalation, and we look forward to developing new treatments for people with unmet medical needs based on this partnership.”

Chiesi’s partnership with Affibody is not the company’s first deal of the year, after it said it would be acquiring rare disease company Amryt Pharma in a transaction worth up to $1.48bn.

Marco Vecchia, chief executive officer of Chiesi Group, said at the time that the addition of Amryt’s portfolio, alongside its expertise, would help the company bring medicines to patients “no matter how rare their condition may be.”

“Amryt has steadily brought innovative products to new markets and, by adding them to the Chiesi portfolio, we hope to make them available to even more patients who may require them,” he said.

https://www.pmlive.com/pharma_news/chiesi_group_and_affibody_ab_partner_on_respiratory_disease_treatments_1489064