AstraZeneca signs new research deal

AstraZeneca has signed a new research agreement with Dynavax Technologies, a San Francisco-based company, to find new treatments for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The two companies will work together to research TLR-9 agonists, which affect parts of the immune system that are held to be a factor in the diseases, Dynavax said. The research firm said that its ISS-based technology will be used to further this goal.

Under the terms of the agreement, AstraZeneca will pay Dynavax an upfront fee of $10 million (5.31 million pounds), plus clinical and research milestones that could bring the total committed funding to $27 million. If any compounds reach a stage where they can be marketed and commercialised, Dynavax will be liable to receive royalties on sales.

Claude Bertrand, vice-president of respiratory and inflammation research at AstraZeneca, said: “The management of respiratory diseases such as asthma and COPD remains a major health challenge affecting 150 million people worldwide and representing a significant financial burden to the global healthcare system.

“New approaches that have the potential to reverse the course of respiratory disease are needed.”

“AstraZeneca believes that Dynavax’s ISS-based technology represents an innovative, next-generation therapeutic intervention that could potentially expand and strengthen AstraZeneca’s strong position in the respiratory disease field,” he added.

As the UK’s second-largest pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca has a number of respiratory products for the treatment of asthma, including Symbicort and Pulmicort, both drugs containing budesonide.

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