Protalix Biotherapeutics Inc (NYSE-A:PLX) announced that it has entered into a collaboration and option agreement with Secarna Pharmaceuticals to jointly develop new antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapies targeting rare kidney diseases, the companies said Tuesday.
Secarna, headquartered in Martinsried, Germany, specializes in the discovery and development of oligonucleotide-based therapeutics.
Under the agreement, Protalix will identify pharmaceutical targets with key biological roles in rare renal indications, while Secarna will use its proprietary, artificial intelligence-OligoCreator platform to design and evaluate ASO candidates against those targets.
The collaboration aims to advance selected programs from the preclinical stage toward clinical development.
As part of the arrangement, Protalix has been granted an exclusive option to license any active compounds emerging from the research. If exercised, the option would provide Protalix with worldwide rights to further develop, commercialize and market the resulting therapeutic programs, subject to milestone payments and royalties payable to Secarna.
"This collaboration represents our first expansion into the rare kidney disease space leveraging RNA technologies, demonstrating the implementation of our previously updated research strategy," Protalix CEO Dror Bashan said in a statement.
“Secarna has established itself as a high-quality, innovative partner in the oligonucleotide field, and we are pleased to join forces to explore new biological pathways and advance promising targets toward clinical development, addressing significant unmet medical needs."
Konstantin Petropoulos, Secarna’s CEO, also expressed excitement about the collaboration, pointing to Protalix’s strong record of developing and bringing to market therapies for rare diseases.
"This collaboration combines Secarna's proven expertise in rapidly generating high-quality antisense candidates with Protalix's deep expertise in advancing programs to patients worldwide,” Petropoulos said. “Together, we aim to bring forward precise and differentiated oligonucleotide therapies for people affected by severe kidney disorders."