US-based pharmaceutical firm Synlogic has met the first discovery milestone in its ongoing research and development (R&D) collaboration with AbbVie.

In the completed first discovery phase, Synlogic used its discovery and development technology platform, and identified Synthetic Biotic leads to treat inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as Crohn’s Disease and colitis.

Synthetic Biotic are a new class of living medicines designed to deliver therapeutic factors for compensating the important functions that are missing or damaged due to disease.

Under the agreement, Synlogic will obtain an undisclosed milestone payment before moving into the second phase.

Synlogic president and CEO Jose Carlos Gutierrez-Ramos said: “The delivery of these investigational Synthetic Biotic medicines, as part of the first phase of our collaboration with AbbVie, demonstrates the continued potential of our discovery and development platform against a wide range of diseases.

“We believe our living medicines have the potential to be transformational for patients, and our commitment to advance the platform’s power includes pursuing innovative partnerships such as the one we’ve forged with AbbVie.”

The firms will continue to assess the investigational Synthetic Biotic leads as candidates for the IBD treatment and promote them through pre-clinical development.

AbbVie holds the right for subsequent clinical development and marketing of the resulting products.

Synthetic Biotic medicines are designed to detect and respond to their environment, as well as to function catalytically, during which a single engineered cell can perform several cycles of the intended pathway activity.

The medicines are currently being developed for rare metabolic disease and Synlogic is looking for opportunities for more common disorders through new partnerships.