Allergy vaccine maker Allergy Therapeutics plc (LON:AGY) has teamed up with fellow AIM company Ergomed Plc (LON:ERGO) to progress the clinical development of three of its OralVac immunotherapy products.
Under the terms of the co-development collaboration agreement, Ergomed will take the treatments for dust mite, tree pollen and grass pollen allergies through the clinic.
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The development, which is scheduled to last for seven years, will kick off next year with a phase I study in the dust mite OralVac tablet.
Allergy Therapeutics already has injectable vaccines for those three allergies but wants to broaden its offering to cater for patients who don’t like needles and would prefer a pill.
The oral formulation has been available for more than two decades in Germany and other European countries but on a ‘named-patient basis’, which means doctors will only prescribe them in special cases.
Ergomed will receive a fee for conducting the clinical development activities although it will also be expected to stump to contribute some of the development costs.
In return, the company will receive future tiered royalties for each product once the first phase II study has been completed.
"We are pleased to announce this co-development programme with Ergomed, which is aimed at strengthening our product portfolio across Europe in a risk-sharing fashion,” said Allergy Therapeutics chief executive Manuel Llobet.
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“Ergomed has over 20 years of experience in clinical development and significant expertise in the allergy field, and are thus ideally placed to support us in the progression of our OralVac products.”
Ergomed executive vice chairman Miroslav Reljanovic added: “We are excited to join in the further development of these products which have established an important presence in the market.
“Ergomed has extensive experience in conducting clinical research in the field of allergy therapies, and so this is a natural therapy area for our next co-development project.”
Allergy shares rose 3% to 29p early on Tuesday, while Ergomed edged 0.5% higher to 185p.