Cytocom Inc., a biopharmaceutical company creating immune therapies that focus on immune restoration and homeostasis, has announced a collaboration agreement to fund research and laboratory facilities at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), a not-for-profit academic institution and a leader in immunology research.
 
The agreement is directed to research that will support the development of potential new immune-modulating agents targeting toll-like receptors for the treatment of cancer, infectious, autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases. The research will harness Cytocom’s proprietary drug discovery and development platform technology.
 
“An alliance with an academic institution the caliber of the La Jolla Institute marks a major achievement for Cytocom and our mission to advance best-of-class immune-modulating therapies that restore immune homeostasis,” stated Michael K. Handley, president and CEO of Cytocom. “With the completion of the merger between Cleveland BioLabs and Cytocom, we have built a robust pipeline of immune-modulating treatments targeting neutropenia and anemia, emergent viruses, cancer, and autoimmune diseases. Working with the La Jolla Institute, we will deeply explore the mechanisms that we believe will drive next-generation therapeutic development with our AIMS technology and bring hope to patients and their families battling serious medical conditions.”
 
Under the terms of the research agreement, the La Jolla Institute may select up to four laboratories to participate in research. Cytocom will provide research funding to these laboratories for projects of mutual interest or for research projects commissioned by Cytocom that explore immune modulation and the action of therapeutics on target toll-like receptors. Toll-like receptors are central to an immune response, connecting innate and adaptive immune compartments, and thus key to fighting disease as well as restoring immune homeostasis.
 
In addition to the research funding for the selected projects, Cytocom will pay to the La Jolla Institute $350,000 per year for each selected laboratory, for a total annual discretionary funding contribution of up to $1.4 million, in addition to the research funding itself. Cytocom will also provide researchers at the La Jolla Institute with samples and materials. In return, Cytocom will have a first option to negotiate a license to new discoveries by the La Jolla Institute that arise from the research projects of common interest funded by Cytocom, however Cytocom will own any new discoveries that arise from research projects of interest to Cytocom that have been commissioned to the La Jolla Institute as “work for hire.”
 
“We are excited to work with Cytocom to interrogate the mechanisms of immune modulation and human immunity modulated through toll-like receptors,” stated La Jolla Institute president  and chief scientific officer Mitchell Kronenberg, Ph.D. “Collaborations between academic research organizations and the biopharmaceutical industry play a key role in advancing science and informing drug development to the benefit everyone involved, from discovery-oriented scientists to therapeutic-oriented companies.  Such collaborations are an important element of our history and our mission looking to the future. Most importantly, the combined efforts provide hope to the millions of people worldwide who deserve immunotherapies that deliver a healthy life without disease.”