Amolyt Pharma inks research and option deal with XOMA

French therapeutic peptides for rare endocrine and metabolic diseases company Amolyt Pharma today announced it has entered into a research agreement and licensing option with XOMA Corp (Nasdaq: XOMA).

Amolyt has the option to license one or more candidates from XOMA for further clinical development worldwide. These comprise a select set of monoclonal antibodies that arose from XOMA’s legacy discovery efforts as potential treatments for primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) and humoral hypercalcemia of malignancy (HHM). No financial terms of the accord were revealed.

Both PHPT and HHM are rare endocrine diseases with high unmet needs and a common target, the parathyroid hormone 1 receptor (PTHR1), and are characterized by the hypersecretion of parathyroid hormone (PTH) and parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP), respectively, resulting in continuous stimulation of the PTHR1, leading to bone loss, hypercalcemia and hypophosphatemia. The objective of the research agreement is to test the anti-PTHR1 antibodies in relevant animal disease models with the aim of selecting a candidate that can successfully halt the over-stimulation of the PTHR1 caused by excess PTH and PTHrP and eliminate the debilitating symptoms and serious complications associated with PHPT and HHM.