Genentech and Symphogen Team Up For $330M

I try not to be biased, but it’s not too often I discuss danish biotech companies on this blog.  Today is different. We are having a full international day here at Pharmababble.  First the Daiichi news and now this release of a collaboration from Symphogen and Genentech.  

The specifics of the alliance are a little fuzzy because all the metrics (upfront, equity payment and targets) are undisclosed however, $330M for a platform development deal is a nice chunk of change.  Genentech will gain access to the platform Symphogen uses to find and reproduce polyclonal antibodies presented by natrually immune human donors.

Symphogen has inked deals for two other projects, including Sym001 with biovitrum and Sym006 with Meiji, but this deal signals a vote of confidence (at least from the technology point of view) from one of biotech’s wise aged members and is enough to convince me that they have something.

Also, symphogen isn’t just an R&D entity, they have a handful of recombinant pAbs in development already (from the company’s website):

Sym001 is being evaluated in a Phase 2 clinical trial for the treatment of Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP) and the prevention of Hemolytic Disease of Newborns (HDN). ITP is a bleeding disorder that causes the blood to clot abnormally. HDN occurs when a pregnant woman suffers an immune reaction against her fetus, causing damage to its oxygen-carrying red blood cells. 

Sym002 is being developed to treat the potentially serious adverse reactions that can be caused by smallpox vaccination. 

Sym003 is being developed for the prevention of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a severe respiratory disease. 

Sym004 and Sym005 are both being developed as anti-cancer recombinant polyclonal antibodies. 

Sym006 is being developed to target an undisclosed type of bacteria.