Eli Lilly will use Topas Therapeutics antigen-specific tolerance induction platform to develop new treatments, with an initial focus on external antigens believed to induce inflammation and/or autoimmune disease, Topas said today.

The companies have signed a multiyear research and option agreement whose value was not disclosed.

Topas did say, however, that it will receive from Lilly R&D funding and payments tied to unspecified future success of compounds to be in-licensed by Lilly. The pharma giant has been granted an option for all candidates produced under the collaboration for in-licensing and further development, while Topas has agreed to conduct preclinical proof-of-principle studies with Lilly to generate the drug candidates.

Topas says its platform is designed to induce antigen-specific immune tolerance by harnessing the liver's natural immunology capabilities. Through the platform, peptide-loaded nanoparticles are selectively targeted toward liver sinusoidal endothelial cells (LSECs), where tolerance against bloodborne antigens is induced by the generation of peptide-specific regulatory T cells.

We expect this work to support the value of our approach in inducing tolerance also against external antigens, Timm Jessen, Ph.D., CEO of Topas Therapeutics, said in a statement. Additionally, the interest from such an important pharmaceutical company in our technology, we believe, supports the strong commercial potential of our work.

Based in Hamburg, Germany, Topas was spun out of Evotec last year to develop nanoparticle-based therapeutics for immunological disorders. Evotec joined Epidarex Capital, EMBL Ventures, and Gimv in raising 14 million ($16.5 million) in Series A financing for the new company, with proceeds intended to expand and accelerate the platform and advance treatment candidates for multiple autoimmune and inflammatory indications.

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Lilly to Use Topas Platform in Immunology Collaboration - Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News