Phylogica expands deal with US biotech giant

Australian drug discovery firm Phylogica (ASX: PYC) saw its shares rise 12.5% to A$0.02 today, after it announced an expansion of an existing deal with a major US biotechnology company.

Genentech, a subsidiary of Swiss pharma giant the Roche (ROG: SIX), has extended its exclusivity period for the research collaboration and license agreement to discover novel antibiotics utilizing Phylogic Savea's Phylomer drug discovery platform, including its proprietary cell penetrating peptide discovery technology. Under the terms of the agreement, Phylogica will receive a milestone payment of $2 million.

Phylogica's chief scientific advisor, Professor Paul Watt, commented:"We are delighted with the progress of our collaboration with Genentech over the last year. This alliance has the potential to address a critical unmet need to develop novel antibiotics to treat bacterial infections including antimicrobial-resistant infections. The World Health Organization has identified antimicrobial resistance as one of the three most important problems for human health.  We look forward to continuing to work with Genentech's scientific team to tackle this increasingly important, global challenge."