Generic manufacturer Mylan has agreed a $17.5 million deal with Pfizer for the exclusive rights to develop, manufacture and commercialise a portfolio of respiratory products.

As part of the deal, Mylan will have licensing rights to Pfizer’s generic equivalent to GSK’s Advair and Seretide.

Heather Bresch, Mylan President, says the agreement offers a “significant opportunity for our generics business”.

The agreement will also see Mylan retaining staff at Pfizer’s respiratory inhalation development team at Discovery Park in Sandwich, Kent. Other former Pfizer staff will be located in Cambridge.

Under the terms of the agreement Mylan will have rights to Pfizer’s dry powder inhaler (DPI) technology platform, as well as the opportunity to negotiate on existing compounds during different stages of their development in the Pharma giant’s pipeline.

Mylan will have to pay the costs for any remaining development and commercialisation for the transferred products. Additional payments will also be made once the deal is completed, depending on the regulatory and commercial success of the portfolio.

Advair Diskus and Seretide Diskus are inhaled fixed-dose combinations of Fluticasone Propionate and Salmeterol which are delivered via a DPI and used to treat asthma and COPD.

On completion of the deal, Mylan with gain the exclusive commercialisation rights for Seretide in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as in the EU and European Free Trade Association countries. The two companies will have the co-promotion rights to the product in the rest of the world.

Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) has entered into a broad framework agreement with Dako on the development of pharmacodiagnostic tests.

The agreement, which builds on a collaboration begun in 2008, aims to develop diagnostics to identify patients more likely to benefit from treatment with BMS investigational drug candidates.

Pharmacodiagnostics (or companion diagnostics) are an important feature of the growing personalised medicine approach, which can improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs by identifying individuals who are more likely to benefit from specific therapies.

Dako, a global leader in tissue-based diagnostics, has a history of developing clinical diagnostics in collaboration with pharmaceutical companies that are used in conjunction with drugs.

“It is a great pleasure for me to announce Dako’s new collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb,” said Lars Holmkvist, CEO of Dako. “This alliance heralds the intentions of both companies to work closely together to develop new diagnostic tests linked to drugs for the higher purpose of identifying the patients most likely to respond to treatment.”

“It is part of Dako’s long-term strategy to collaborate with pharma companies on the development of companion diagnostic tests.”

Based in Denmark, Dako produces reagents, instruments and software used by hospitals and clinics in more than 80 countries worldwide in the diagnosis of cancer and the planning of its treatment.

SomaLogic has entered into a research agreement with Novartis to use its proprietary proteomics technology to help develop Novartis’ drug discovery.

“We are excited by this opportunity to work with Novartis' world-class researchers to help them define robust biomarkers, validate novel drug targets, and even develop companion clinical diagnostics,” said Larry Gold, CEO of SomaLogic.

“"We believe that our technology is uniquely able to address the significant drug discovery and development challenges currently faced by biopharmaceutical companies.”

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

SomaLogic develops biomarker discovery and clinical diagnostics and is based in Boulder, Colorado.

Pfizer has signed a pact worth $340 million with GlycoMimetics, in a lead drug programme for sickle cell disease.

The partnership will see Pfizer focus on the development of GMI-1070, an inflammation inhibitor for the painful vaso-occlusive crises that threaten the organs of sickle cell patients.

Yvonne Greenstreet, Senior Vice President and Head of the Medicines Development Group at Pfizer, said: “This experimental compound and partnership are emblematic of our strategy in rare disease, targeting areas of high unmet need to deliver improved patient outcomes.”

The deal states that Pfizer owns worldwide commercial rights of the treatment, with Maryland-based GlycoMimetics taking charge of the Phase II trial before passing it over to Pfizer’s development team for further studies.

GMI-1070 is also being tested in preclinical studies for other diseases, including haematologic malignancies.

Sanofi Pasteur has signed a research and development agreement with the University of California, San Diego, for its experimental acne vaccine and treatment.

The R&D pact includes a two-year collaboration with Chun-Ming Huang and team at UC San Diego School of Medicine.

The team’s immunological approach to acne prevention and treatment targets the neutralisation of Propionibacterium inflammation.

Elias Zerhouni, President of Global Research and Development at Sanofi, said that the vaccine and treatment could address an unmet medical need.

“This investigational vaccine and treatment may lead to a better solution for the many who suffer from this skin disease,” said Mr Zerhouni.

According to the vaccine division of Sanofi, the annual market for acne therapeutics is in excess of $3 billion.