Pfizer signs $340m rare disease deal with GlycoMimetics

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.