ELASMOGEN, a drug development business spun out of the University of Aberdeen and global biopharma group Amgen have signed a research agreement with Canada’s Feldan Therapeutics.

Using a type of cell that is naturally occurring in sharks, Elasmogen is developing a drug that could help save the sight of patients with inflammatory eye diseases.

The agreement will see the firms combine their technologies to develop drugs based on genetically-engineered proteins, called biologics.

Most biologics can only act on molecules on the surface of cells, which means they are unable to interact with deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and certain other proteins which play a key role in disease but only exist inside the cell.

Elasmogen specialises in the development of soloMERs, which are a type of biologics that help treat auto-inflammatory diseases and can be used in ophthalmology, oncology and intracellular delivery.

The collaboration combines Elasmogen’s technology with the capabilities of Feldan’s Shuttle platform, which enables the highly efficient introduction of foreign proteins into cells.

Calling the agreement an “exciting opportunity”, François-Thomas Michaud, chief executive of Feldan Therapeutics, said: “Intracellular delivery and binding of biologics can bridge the gap between small molecules and biologics.”

“The expertise provided by Amgen will significantly accelerate the development of this potential new class of therapeutics,” said Caroline Barelle, CEO, Elasmogen.

Meanwhile, Dundee-based Exscientia, which works in the field of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery, has agreed a strategic research collaboration, and licence option agreement with global pharma company Sanofi in the high-interest area of metabolic disease.