Ilypsa and Saltigo to co-operate on polymeric pharma products

German company Saltigo and Ilypsa, of California, are to co-operate on process development, manufacturing and clinical supply of polymeric pharmaceutical products.

The relationship initially covers process development and pre-clinical and clinical supplies of Ilypsa's two lead candidates ILY101 (phosphate binder) and ILY105 (potassium binder) in the therapeutic polymer field.

Ilypsa will be able to take advantage of Saltigo's skills in the area of multi-step chemical synthesis, which is relevant for both monomer synthesis and polymerisation - both integral parts of the development programme. Saltigo is also able to exploit its unique polymer process development and scale-up skills and offer Ilypsa the benefit of its multi-purpose GMP facilities and regulatory expertise.

Ilypsa is a privately held biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing a pipeline of next-generation renal care pharmaceutical products. Pioneering the use of a proprietary high throughput discovery and development platform created and validated at Symyx Technologies, Ilypsa has rapidly created non-absorbed polymeric phosphate and potassium binder compounds to treat chronic kidney and metabolic diseases.

"We were attracted by Ilypsa's rich pipeline and are impressed by its ability to move its compounds quickly through early development and into clinical trials," said Axel Westerhaus, managing director of Saltigo.

"The nature of Ilypsa's research portfolio offers shorter development time compared with many other projects in the marketplace, and this demanded an intense and compressed development effort by the Saltigo team. We are pleased that not only will we have the opportunity to supply larger quantities as they are needed, but we will also have the opportunity to serve as Ilypsa's partner for new projects entering the pipeline."