Baxter AG and Jerini AG have announced progress in their collaborative research programme to develop a non-intravenous therapy for the treatment of haemophilia. Extensive in vitro and in vivo analyses have identified several synthetic lead molecules with promising pharmacological properties.

"Using our proprietary technology platform, we continue to make important progress in our collaboration with Baxter, the leader in haemophilia therapy," said Jens Schneider-Mergener, Jerini AG's CEO. "We are encouraged by the identification of these molecules and the evaluation of the potential to treat haemophilia using a non-intravenous therapy with molecules that can be synthetically produced," he added.

Because blood-clotting proteins are large, relatively unstable molecules, current haemophilia therapies can only be administered intravenously, which is an invasive and technically demanding procedure. It is presently not possible to administer these molecules by non-intravenous routes because of poor distribution or rapid inactivation of the molecule in the body. Therefore, potential non-intravenous therapy must be able to reach its target site quickly and effectively without being inactivated in the process.

"We are very pleased by the progress to date in this collaboration with Jerini," said Friedrich Scheiflinger, senior director of discovery research and technical assessment for Baxter's BioScience business. "This partnership builds on Baxter's rich history of innovation in haemophilia therapy development and underscores our long-term commitment to improving therapies for people with haemophilia," he added.

The collaboration between Baxter and Jerini was initiated in 2001 and expanded in 2004. Under the terms of the agreement, Jerini received an upfront payment, with the potential for milestone payments for achieving discovery, preclinical and clinical goals as well as royalties in the event of marketing approval.