The collaboration between Karo Bio and Pfizer has resulted in a significant achievement within the RORgamma project triggering the first milestone payment to Karo Bio.

“The teams from Karo Bio and Pfizer have enjoyed an excellent interaction and relationship which has helped meet this goal. This achievement clearly demonstrates the value Karo Bio brings to its partners in the area of nuclear receptor drug discovery”, says Karo Bio’s CEO Per Bengtsson in the company press release.

The collaboration between the two companies started in December 2011 and the aim is to discover and develop novel small molecule RORgamma modulators for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. The nuclear hormone receptor RORgamma is a novel attractive target for the treatment of autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and psoriasis. RORgamma directly controls the production and secretion of the cytokine IL-17, a major contributor to inflammation. The receptor’s key role in driving disease pathology has been implicated in clinical trials using monoclonal antibodies that neutralize IL-17 activity.