27th Nov 2018 14:00
LONDON (Alliance News) - Biopharmaceutical company PureTech Health PLC on Tuesday noted that its affiliate Vedanta Biosciences initiated the first phase clinical study of VE202.
VE202 is Vedanta's orally-administered, live biotherapeutic product candidate for inflammatory bowel disease. The London-listed firm said VE202 was licensed to Janssen Biotech Inc in 2015.
Vedanta Biosciences will receive USD12 million from Janssen in milestone payments as part of the ongoing collaboration.
VE202 is based on the work of Vedanta Co-Founder Kenya Honda, who published a research demonstrating that gut microbiota could impact the number and activity of regulatory T-cells in the gut mucosa.
In collaboration with Vedanta, Honda's group identified cellular mechanisms driving immune-microbiota interactions and demonstrated their potential utility in disease models.
"This is an important milestone as it represents what we believe to be the first clinical study of a rationally-defined bacterial consortium for an immune-mediated disease," said PureTech Chief of Business & Strategy Bharatt Chowrira.
"We look forward to the continued partnership with Janssen as we advance VE202 through the clinic for inflammatory bowel disease, and we are pleased with the overall progression of Vedanta's pipeline, which now includes two clinic-stage live biotherapeutic product candidates," added Chowrira.
PureTech shares were trading 0.8% lower on Tuesday at 176.52 pence each.
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