January 25, 2015
By Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Sr. Editor
AstraZeneca PLC has given British biotech startup Orca a $122.5 million boost, after the two companies signed a three-year research deal to develop Orca’s retinoic acid-related orphan nuclear receptor gamma inhibitors, they said Wednesday.
Under the terms of the deal, the Oxford-based Orca will receive will receive upfront and milestone payments from AstraZeneca dependent on the success of their RORϒ inhibitors in the program, with a potential for further payments if the drugs meet clinical milestones.
“We are delighted that AstraZeneca has recognised the potential of the Orca programme in a space where the identification of inhibitors with drug-like properties has proven challenging,” said Michael Hunter, CEO and co-founder of Orca Pharmaceuticals. “To have the backing and experience of AstraZeneca makes this programme even more competitive as we move forward to deliver best-in-class medicines in this area.”
RORϒ are part of a hot new class of autoimmune drugs which help convert immune cells called CD4+ T cells into T-helper 17 (TH17) cells which can kickstart the body’s immune response. But if TH17 cells and other RORϒ+ immune cells go awry, they can cause a variety of autoimmune conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis, arthritis and multiple sclerosis.
“Respiratory, inflammation and autoimmune diseases represent a main therapeutic area for AstraZeneca,” said Maarten Kraan, head of the Respiratory, Inflammation and Autoimmune Diseases Innovative Medicines unit at AstraZeneca. “We are delighted to be partnering with Orca Pharmaceuticals in this hot area of immunology science to help us create potentially best-in-class chemical assets and candidate drugs for patients who currently do not have any oral medicines available to treat their chronic conditions.”
BioSpace Temperature Poll
Analyst Mark Schoenebaum, a biotech and pharmaceuticals analyst and medical doctor for ISI Group Evercore, has been running a Best Hair in Biopharma contest for several months now. So far, the candidates are Bristol-Myers Squibb Company‘s John Elicker, Receptos’ Chief Executive Officer Faheem Hasnain, Celgene‘s Vice President of Investor Relations Patrick Flanigan and Acorda Therapeutics’ Ron Cohen.
We want to know what our BioSpace community thinks: Who do you believe actually has the Best Hair in BioPharma?
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