Ferring Pharmaceuticals has signed a research and development (R&D) partnership and licensing agreement with Swiss-based company PharmaBiome to develop new microbiome-based therapies in gastroenterology.
The alliance will combine Ferring’s development and commercial expertise with the technology of PharmaBiome to manufacture new donor-independent microbiome-based treatments.
The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the agreement.
Ferring will receive exclusive rights for the development, production and marketing of microbiome-based biotherapeutics for gastroenterological ailments developed by the alliance.
Leveraging two key technologies, PharmaBiome has developed a technology platform that can choose bacterial strains to create bacterial consortia as live biotherapeutic products with specified activities.
The NicheMap and a co-cultivation technique facilitate quick and scalable manufacturing of the therapies.
The company’s initiatives are intended to develop next-generation products that are donor material-independent and provide the same bacterial strain consortium with preferred activity and therapeutic benefits.
Ferring Pharmaceuticals Microbiome senior vice-president Carl Bilbo stated: “This agreement is the latest in Ferring’s long-term mission to maximise the therapeutic potential of the gut microbiome for the benefit of patients.
“PharmaBiome’s unique technology enables identification and manufacturing of defined consortium live microbiome bio-therapeutics that could reverse microbiome dysbiosis linked to disease.
“This collaboration is a successful example of our strategy to use external innovation to build our pipeline complementary to our in-house research, and we aim to do further collaborations to build a vibrant research community.”
Ferring focuses on the development of therapies for mothers and infants with its portfolio covering medicines from conception to birth.
PharmaBiome CEO Tomas de Wouters stated: “The trust of Ferring in our translational approach is an important validation of our work and a unique opportunity to accelerate the development of our rationally designed consortia with an experienced market leader in the microbiome therapeutic field.”
In August 2023, Royalty Pharma acquired a synthetic royalty on US net sales of Ferring’s intravesical gene therapy Adstiladrin (nadofaragene firadenovec-vncg) in a deal worth up to $500m.
Early R&D projects coverage on Pharmaceutical Technology is supported by Mimotopes.
Editorial content is independently produced and follows the highest standards of journalistic integrity. Topic sponsors are not involved in the creation of editorial content.
