Shire licenses inflammatory bowel disease therapy from Pfizer

Shire has agreed to license global rights to all indications of the new inflammatory bowel disease therapy PF-00547659 from Pfizer.

The investigational biologic has been evaluated for the treatment of moderate-to-severe inflammatory bowel disease in more than 700 patients in phase I and II trials, with phase III trials expected to begin after consultation with global health authorities.

It has shown promise in the treatment of several of the most common bowel conditions, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

This deal will build upon Shire's established and industry-leading gastrointestinal portfolio, allowing it to provide more treatment options for inflammatory bowel diseases, which affect more than 3.5 million people in the US, the EU and Japan.

Howard Mayer, head of clinical development at Shire, said: "We look forward to continuing the development of PF-00547659, a biologic that will benefit from our experience in inflammatory bowel disease and across the gastrointestinal space."

This comes after the firm completed its merger with Baxalta earlier this month, a deal that created a new global leader in the fields of rare diseases and highly specialised conditions.