Feldan Therapeutics, Elasmogen in Amgen tie-up for intracellular biologics

Biopharmas from Scotland, Canada and the U.S. have come together in a new pact designed to deliver intracellular candidates for two drug targets.

Under the deal, financial details of which were not given, Aberdeen, Scotland-based Elasmogen alongside Quebec City, Canada-based Feldan will combine their tech to develop the delivery system and binding domains for several as yet undisclosed intracellular targets for Amgen.

The U.S. biopharma will use Feldan’s Shuttle platform and Elasmogen’s soloMER tech; the former being a peptide-based delivery method that allows the introduction of foreign proteins into cells, while the latter are the smallest naturally occurring binding domains. 

“Their small size and robust nature, particularly the resistance to changes in pH and ability to bind in intracellular conditions makes them the perfect complement to Feldan’s technology,” according to a statement from the companies.

Both Feldan and Elasmogen, a spin-out from the University of Aberdeen, already have a history, teaming up last year for work on intracellular biologics. 

“Currently all approved biologic antibody therapeutics act on extracellular targets but intracellular delivery enables access to a much greater number of targets,” said François-Thomas Michaud, CEO, Feldan Therapeutics. 

“Intracellular delivery and binding of biologics can bridge the gap between small molecules and biologics.”

Caroline Barelle, CEO, Elasmogen, added: “This is an exciting opportunity to demonstrate the performance and capabilities of the combined Shuttle-soloMER technology. The expertise provided by Amgen will significantly accelerate the development of this potential new class of therapeutics.”