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news.Perseid Therapeutics, a company into the discovery, research and development of multiple protein pharmaceutical programs and a majority-owned subsidiary of Maxygen, has received a second preclinical milestone under its collaboration with Astellas Pharma to co-develop and commercialise CTLA4-Ig therapeutics.
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Perseid claimed that its CTLA4-Ig product candidates (designated as MAXY-4) are designed for the treatment of a broad array of autoimmune disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis and transplant rejection.
Perseid said that by binding to human B7 ligands with high avidity, CTLA4-Ig fusion proteins inhibit B7-mediated co-stimulation of T cells via the CD28 receptor, thereby decreasing activation of T cells and thus decreasing immune system activation.
Maxygen initially entered into co-development and commercialisation agreement with Astellas in September 2008, which was later assigned to Perseid in September 2009 in connection with Maxygen’s joint venture arrangement with Astellas.
Under the collaboration, Perseid has received a $5m milestone payment from Astellas. Additionally, in December 2009, Perseid has also achieved $5m initial preclinical milestone payment from Astellas.
Grant Yonehiro, CEO of Perseid, said: “This second milestone represents an achievement in the continued progress of our CTLA-4 program. It further exemplifies the strength of our collaboration and the work that has been accomplished by the Perseid-Astellas team.”