Calgary medical research company signs $1B deal to develop new drugs for autoimmune diseases
A local company born out of medical research conducted at the University of Calgary has signed a $1 billion (Cdn) deal to develop and commercialize revolutionary new drugs for autoimmune disease.
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A local company born of medical research conducted at the University of Calgary has signed a C$1-billion deal to develop and commercialize revolutionary new drugs for autoimmune disease.
Calgary-based Parvus Therapeutics, founded by Dr. Pere Santamaria — a professor in the department of microbiology, immunology and infectious diseases at the Cumming School of Medicine — has entered into a worldwide collaboration and licence agreement with Genentech, a San Francisco-based biotechnology company that specializes in the discovery, development and commercialization of new medicines.
The partnership will see the two companies work together to develop and commercialize drugs for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), autoimmune liver diseases (ALD), and celiac disease, using technology first discovered by Santamaria in 2004 during the course of his research at the U of C. The technology harnesses a natural mechanism in the body to shut off the immune attack that is characteristic of a variety of autoimmune diseases — everything from Type 1 diabetes to multiple sclerosis to rheumatoid arthritis — without compromising the rest of the immune system.
Santamaria, who founded the privately held Parvus in 2007 with the goal of commercializing his discovery, was himself diagnosed with an autoimmune disease as a child. There are currently about 100 different autoimmune diseases that affect humans, and no cures. Existing treatments that suppress the normal immune system often leave the patient vulnerable to other health problems.
“I had myasthenia gravis, which is a neuromuscular disease. I saw in the eyes of my parents the pain they went through as a result of that. So I am personally involved in this way,” he said, adding that the deal with Genentech not only rewards the passion and dedication he and his colleagues and students have put into their research, but makes him excited about what this could mean for autoimmune sufferers.
“There is a high likelihood now that we will be able to test whether or not these potential drugs will work on autoimmune patients,” he said. “If they do, it will be an awesome thing. Something beyond my wildest dreams.”
Under the terms of the agreement, Parvus will conduct preclinical development and Phase I clinical trials, while Genentech will be responsible for Phase II and beyond, including global regulatory submissions and worldwide commercialization of products.
Parvus will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and is then eligible to receive additional payments based on the achievement of predetermined milestones. Parvus will also receive royalties on the net sales of products resulting from the collaboration. The entire deal is valued at more than $1 billion.
Parvus, which has about a dozen employees working in both Calgary and San Francisco, received early capital from a number of angel investors as well as advice and support from Innovate Calgary, a subsidiary of the U of C that works to act as a bridge between the university and the world of business.
“There were some people who believed in the kind of work we were doing,” Santamaria said. “They deserve the credit for allowing us to survive during a period of time when it was very difficult to convince anyone else that this was worth a shot.”
It can be difficult for academics to make the leap from pure research to commercialization, said Innovate Calgary CEO John Wilson, adding in Calgary it is also not as easy to find investment capital for a life sciences company as it is for oil and gas.
“But we’ve now shown you can do it. Younger companies can look at Parvus and say, ‘Look, you can make it here,’ ” Wilson said. “It (the Genentech deal) is enormously important for the city of Calgary and for the future of the city of Calgary.”
University of Calgary president Ed McCauley called Santamaria a “fantastic, amazing scholar.”
“This is a big win for Calgary,” he said. “The more examples of these we have, the more Calgary will be viewed as a source of life sciences innovation.”
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