On March 23, 2020 Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:PIRS), a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing novel biotherapeutics through its proprietary Anticalin technology platform for respiratory, cancer, and other diseases, reported an update on its strategic immuno-oncology collaboration with Servier, originally established in 2017 (Press release, Pieris Pharmaceuticals, MAR 23, 2020, View Source [SID1234555756]). After conducting an extensive portfolio review, Servier has decided to focus on continued and accelerated development of the two most advanced programs, including PRS-344/S095012, and to discontinue development of the two earlier-stage programs in the collaboration.
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Pieris and Servier will continue the development of PRS-344/S095012, a 4-1BB/PD-L1 bispecific and the lead program in the collaboration. Pieris holds exclusive commercialization rights for PRS-344/S095012 in the United States and will receive royalties on ex-U.S. sales for this program. The companies will also prioritize the development of PRS-352, a preclinical-stage program addressing undisclosed targets, and for which Servier has worldwide rights. Pieris is working to complete the non-GLP preclinical work for that program and expects to hand it over to Servier this year for IND-enabling activities. Pieris will retain all rights to the discontinued programs and will consider development and strategic options with regard to those programs upon reviewing the data generated as part of the collaboration.
"We are very pleased with the collaboration with Pieris. Over the past three years, significant progress has been made in the research programs of two drug candidates," said Patrick Therasse, Head of Servier Research and Development Oncology. "We believe that focusing our joint efforts on the later-stage bispecific programs will drive the greatest value in the collaboration, and we are enthusiastic about the prospect of bringing PRS-344/S095012, the most advanced of these two programs, into the clinic soon. Immuno-oncology is one of the two major axes of Servier’s oncology research in order to develop promising innovative and effective treatments for cancer patients."
"Our collaboration with Servier remains a highly productive and valuable one, and we believe that concentrating our efforts towards the development of the more advanced programs will allow us to focus our immuno-oncology pipeline with the added benefit of using our capital more efficiently," said Stephen S. Yoder, President and Chief Executive Office of Pieris. "Additionally, we have generated promising clinical data in our proprietary 4-1BB-based program, PRS-343, in parallel, and we look forward to leveraging that know-how in the development of PRS-344/S095012 and PRS-352 with Servier."