Philogen S.p.A., a privately held clinical‐stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced that it has entered into a strategic worldwide license agreement with Pfizer for Dekavil, a novel investigational therapy for autoimmune diseases. Philogen will receive an upfront payment and will be eligible to receive milestone and royalty payments. Pfizer retains exclusive rights to market any products that may be developed as a result of the collaboration.

Currently in Phase 1 clinical testing, Dekavil has the potential to become a first‐in‐class therapy for autoimmune diseases. Pfizer plans to explore the activity of Dekavil in Inflammatory Bowel Disease in addition to Philogen’s ongoing clinical program for Dekavil in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Designed as an ‘armed antibody’, Dekavil is composed of an antibody that selectively targets inflammatory disease sites in the body, coupled with the immunoregulatory cytokine interleukin 10 (IL‐10). Unlike traditional medicines that work by suppressing the immune system, Dekavil is believed to selectively modulate anti‐inflammatory effects in the target area, sparing unwanted effects on other tissues and potentially restoring healthy immune function. 

‘’This licensing agreement with Pfizer accelerates our strong commitment to Philogen’s unique approach to delivering therapeutic molecules specifically to their site of action,” commented Duccio Neri, Philogen’s CEO. “We believe that combining Philogen’s extensive experience with targeted therapies with Pfizer’s world‐leading immunology expertise and clinical capabilities will optimize Dekavil’s development pathway and progress. The partnership builds on the excellent scientific interactions already occurring between the two companies.’’

“Pfizer is committed to leading in the innovation of treatments for patients with serious autoimmune and inflammatory diseases,” said Jose Carlos Gutierrez‐Ramos, Senior Vice President, Pfizer BioTherapeutics R&D. “Dekavil adds a differentiated clinical‐stage asset to our immunoscience pipeline, with a unique ocus in immunoregulation ‐ an emerging area with the  potential to help patients suffering from these debilitating diseases.”

About Philogen  
Philogen is a fully integrated biotechnology company engaged in the discovery and development of novel biopharmaceutical products for the treatment certain diseases that are characterized by angiogenesis, the proliferation of newly formed blood vessels. 

Philogen’s strategy is to deliver bioactive agents, for example cytokines, radionuclides or drugs to the site of disease using antibodies that specifically and efficiently target stromal antigens. Philogen helped pioneer this strategy, and has published extensively in leading scientific journals since 1997 in relation to this therapeutic approach. This technology has generated a strong proprietary pipeline of five bio‐pharmaceutical products that are undergoing Phase I/II clinical trials in cancer and chronic inflammation indications.

Philogen also has established discovery technologies, including human antibody technology, chemical proteomics for the discovery of vascular markers of disease and DNA‐encoded libraries for the isolation of novel chemical entities.

Philogen is headquartered in Siena, Italy, where a EMA‐certified GMP production facility accelerates transition of its ‘armed antibodies’ to the clinic. Philogen also has substantial research activities and laboratories in Zurich, Switzerland. Philogen is independently owned and managed, generates revenue from a iverse range of activities, and has signed agreements with several major pharmaceutical companies.