Media release detail page

Polyphor and Boehringer Ingelheim extend macrocycle R&D collaboration

Allschwil, Switzerland, December 22, 2015. Polyphor Ltd, a privately held pharmaceutical company specialized in the discovery and development of macrocycle drugs, announced today the successful identification and initial optimization of macrocycle molecules for a challenging target in the R&D collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim. This target has previously been considered non-druggable with small molecules and biopharmaceuticals. The macrocycles display suitable pharmacological properties and are orally bioavailable.

"The collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim exemplifies how Polyphor's proprietary macrocycle platform can be successfully leveraged within a joint drug discovery project with a pharma partner to provide innovative solutions for targets hitherto considered to be non-druggable," said Dr. Michael Altorfer, CEO of Polyphor. "Partnerships with pharma companies are a key element of our strategy to exploit the full potential of this novel drug class, while focusing our own R&D activities on hospital patient care and rare respiratory diseases. They allow us to build a broad portfolio of innovative macrocycle drug candidates across a wide range of therapeutic areas, thereby optimizing the overall risk-return profile of our development pipeline."

About Polyphor Ltd:

Polyphor is a Swiss Pharma company focusing on the discovery and development of macrocycle drugs addressing high unmet medical needs. Macrocycles represent a new drug class complementary to the traditional small molecules and large biopharmaceuticals. Polyphor leverages its unique and proprietary technology platforms to develop its own product portfolio and to pursue licensing and collaboration opportunities with industry partners. The company's lead drug candidates include POL6326, Balixafortide, (Phase II), a CXCR4 antagonist, for tissue repair and combination treatments in oncology; POL7080 (Phase II), a highly selective antibiotic with a novel mode-of-action to treat Pseudomonas infections; and POL6014 (Phase I), an inhaled inhibitor of neutrophil elastase for the treatment of alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, cystic fibrosis, and other lung diseases. Polyphor is a privately held company with about 100 employees, headquartered in Allschwil, near Basel. For additional information, please visit www.polyphor.com.