Pfizer and Nodality agree autoimmune disease collaboration

Pfizer is to utilise technology from personalised medicine biotechnology company Nodality to aid the development of new autoimmune disease therapies.

Under the terms of the collaboration, Nodality's proprietary Single Cell Network Profiling tool will be used to provide a biological base for streamlining the development of potential Pfizer compounds.

Initially, the partnership will focus on lupus, including the characterisation of mechanisms of action, disease analysis and drug profiling.

The arrangement will include the payment of an upfront fee and research and development funding, as well as milestone payments based on the project's ongoing success.

Jose-Carlos Gutierrez-Ramos, senior vice-president for biotherapeutics research and development at Pfizer, said: "Our partnership with Nodality exemplifies Pfizer's commitment to precision medicine by providing us with earlier insight into a compound's potential clinical profile, which can help reduce attrition rates, accelerate development and improve patient targeting."

Last month, the company announced the sale of the developmental cancer compound VS-6063 to Verastem, an established specialist in the oncology field.