Australia's Phylogica partners on spin-off with UK university

Australian drug discovery company Phylogica (ASX: PYC) says it will partner with researchers from the UK’s University of Cambridge in a spin-off company to pursue a novel application of its Phylomer peptides for discovery of disease-associated targets.

The spin-off complements Phylogica’s existing business model by opening up a new market opportunity for the company. It offers the potential to secure new revenue streams that would otherwise not be accessible to Phylogica without substantial investment in both capital and also in technical expertise. Phylogica has already initiated discussions with prospective partners who are interested in the capabilities of the new Phylogica-Cambridge University venture.

The Australian company already has multi-million dollar licensing deals with the likes of drug majors Pfizer (for peptide-based vaccines; The Pharma Letter December 21, 2010) and AstraZeneca (for novel antimicrobial peptides; TPL August 20, 2010).