text: Pieris and Daiichi Sankyo Sign Therapeutic Collaboration to Develop Anticalin® Therapeutics :: Pieris Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (PIRS)
  Pieris and Daiichi Sankyo Sign Therapeutic...
  Freising, Germany, April 12, 2011 --
  Pieris AG announced today the signature of a collaboration and license agreement with Daiichi Sankyo Company Limited (hereinafter Daiichi Sankyo; headquartered in Chuo Ward, Tokyo, TSE 4568), under which Pieris will apply its proprietary Anticalin scaffold technology to discover novel Anticalins against two Daiichi Sankyo targets. Upon discovery and achievement by Pieris of early preclinical development milestones for lead Anticalin drug candidates, Daiichi Sankyo will assume responsibility for further development and marketing of the Anticalin compounds.
  "Pieris stands in a unique position as an enabling company in the targeted therapeutics space when traditional biological approaches are untenable," noted Stephen Yoder, CEO of Pieris. "Our deal with Daiichi Sankyo demonstrates yet again the high value of the Anticalin technology and we're extremely proud to count Daiichi Sankyo among the growing list of industry leaders who are our collaboration partners."
  Under the terms of the agreement, Pieris will receive more than € 7 million upon signing of the collaboration agreement for the two targets. In addition, Pieris will receive committed research funding and payments for the achievement of research, preclinical, regulatory and commercial milestones. The partnership could encompass for Pieris more than € 100 million per target in license fees, funding and milestones provided the nominated Anticalin achieves full commercialization, and tiered, mid- to mid-high single digit royalties on sales from marketed Anticalins resulting from the collaboration. Daiichi Sankyo will have exclusive marketing rights worldwide for all such products.
  Pieris AG is an independent, clinical-staged biotechnology company advancing its proprietary Anticalin® technology to create safer, more efficacious and more convenient protein therapeutics. Exclusive to Pieris, Anticalin-based drugs promise to address high-unmet medical needs and expand the therapeutic potential of current targeted approaches. Pieris' pipeline ranges from its Phase I compound, PRS-050 (anti-VEGF, oncology), to multiple Anticalins in preclinical development. Not including today's announcement, the company has three ongoing collaborations: a drug discovery partnership with Takeda San Francisco; a multi-year, multi-target agreement with Sanofi-Aventis and Sanofi Pasteur (EUROMEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY); and a deal with Allergan, Inc. (NYSE: AGN), focusing on novel treatments for eye diseases. Privately held, Pieris has been funded by premier biotechnology-focused venture capital, including lead investors OrbiMed Advisors and Global Life Science Ventures. For more information, please visit: www.pieris-ag.com.