Wyeth announces haemophilia collaboration with Nautilus Biotech

Wyeth Pharmaceuticals has announced that it has signed a research collaboration and license agreement with French firm Nautilus Biotech for the discovery and development of innovative factor IX proteins to be used as a treatment for haemophilia B.

The aim of this agreement is to develop proteins with an extended half-life to enable a reduction in the frequency of treatments administered so as to improve patient convenience.

Wyeth comments that Nautilus Biotech will use its proprietary technology to make minimal changes to amino acid sequences to alter the breakdown of protein in the human body, in order to improve the longevity of the recombinant haemophilia B therapy.

Cavan Redmond, executive vice president and general manager of BioPharma at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, said: “Wyeth is continually evaluating technologies for next generation haemophilia products that provide unique and improved features for our patients.”

He added that this agreement would extend on the company’s history of innovation with regards to researching haemophilia, while increasing the company’s presence in the biopharmaceuticals sector.

Last week, Wyeth announced that Robert Essner, chairman and chief executive officer of the company, would present for Wyeth at the Merrill Lynch 2007 Global Pharmaceutical, Biotechnology and Medical Device Conference on February 7th 2007.