Pieris Pharmaceuticals earns third milestone payment from Sanofi

Biotechnology company Pieris Pharmaceuticals announced Monday that it received a milestone payment of an undisclosed amount from Sanofi for the continuous advancement of the tetraspecific Anticalin-based program for infectious disease.

This is the third payment-based milestone achieved by the Massachusetts-based drugmaker in its collaboration with the France-based pharmaceutical firm Sanofi. In 2013, the companies expanded its initial discovery and development partnership to include a novel multi-specific Anticalin program, where Sanofi would provide Pieris with an upfront payment, research funding and payments for certain achievements and commercial milestones.

Anticalins are therapeutic proteins derived from human lipocalins that can overcome the pharmacological and pharmaceutical limitations of protein and non-protein-based drug platforms. Compared to other therapeutic protein drugs, Anticalins can bind to multiple-sized targets, offer both dual and multi-specific approaches with a single gene expression, avoid unwanted agnostic receptor cross-linking and maintain a robust structure. They have also proven to be safe, allow for accelerated development timelines and be produced at lower costs.

"We're pleased with the continued progression of this highly differentiated therapeutic protein, which is being pursued to treat infectious diseases that are not adequately addressed with current therapies," Pieris President and CEO Stephen Yoder said. "As our partnered programs continue to advance, resulting milestone income should play a growing role in the source of capital to advance our proprietary pipeline."