Merck's Allergopharma, S-TARget Partner To Develop S-TARget's Allergy Therapeutics
By Cyndi Root
Allergopharma, Merck KGaA’s allergy division, announced in a press release that it has formed a partnership with Austrian-based S-TARget Therapeutics. The two companies signed an exclusive licensing agreement to use S-TARget’s S-TIR to develop allergy treatments. Marco Linari, CEO of Allergopharma, said, "With S-TARget's technology platform, we have great potential available to develop new therapeutic forms for the most significant allergens, such as dust mites and pollen.”
Allergopharma and S-TARget Agreement
Christof Langer, CEO and co-founder of S-TARget, also commented saying that Allergopharma was an excellent match, as it has strong positioning in the allergy sector, expertise, modern technology, and close ties to the medical practitioners. The two parties have agreed to keep the details of the partnership confidential, including the financial aspects and the general terms. They have disclosed that the main focus is S-TIR technology and the development of a new generation of allergy products. The two companies intend to develop market-ready products as soon as possible.
S-TIR Platform
S-TARget’s S-TIR platform produces vaccines in a two-module system, the warhead and the immunogen. The warhead guides the therapeutic immunogen to the target, boosting the therapeutic effect of the drug. The allergic disease-specific immunogen stimulates the conversion of allergen specific T-cells to healthy normal T-cells. S-TARget’s technology permits warhead use with a number of immunogens, allowing for personalized medicine.
Allergy Market
Companies and Markets released a report on the allergy market in the U.S. It states that allergy suffering depends on the year, which can cause fluctuations in sales. Five brands captured most of the market share in 2013. They include Reckitt Benckiser, Schering-Plough, Procter & Gamble, Chattem, and Johnson & Johnson. Cough, cold, and allergy remedies are forecasted to grow 10 percent, reaching $8.4 billion in 2018. The report states that due to the rising incidence of allergies worldwide, new products will support sales growth.
Causal vs. Remedies
The new partnership between Allergopharma and S-TARget will focus on causal treatments, or those that address the causes of allergies, rather than those that remedy the symptoms like many over-the-counter (OTC) products. An example of a new causal allergy therapy is Oralair. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Oralair in April 2014 as an immunotherapy treatment for grass pollen-induced allergic rhinitis with or without conjunctivitis.