AnTolRx, Inc., a private biotechnology company, has agreed to license its immune tolerance therapy for type 1 diabetes (T1D) to Pfizer with the aim of advancing the research and accelerating its potential for commercialization.

The research is part of a larger portfolio of work done by AnTolRx, a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based research and development biotechnology company. It builds upon the pioneering immunoregulatory research of Francisco Quintana, a professor of neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and AnTolRx’s scientific founder and chief scientific advisor. JDRF, a long-time supporter of Quintana’s work, applauded the transition.

“There is an urgent need for disease-modifying T1D immune therapies to slow down the autoimmune process and delay or block progression to symptomatic insulin-dependent diabetes,” said Derek Rapp, JDRF President and CEO.

“The AnTolRx story is an excellent example of a research foundation, an academic institution, a biotech company and a major pharmaceutical company working together to advance promising translational research with the hope that it can potentially deliver key breakthroughs for the T1D community,” said Rapp.

Moving forward, Pfizer will lead further optimization, development and potential commercialization of AnTolRx’s work. Michael Vincent, senior vice president and chief scientific officer, inflammation & immunology, Pfizer said, “At Pfizer’s Immunology and Inflammation Research Unit, our ultimate goal is to advance potential cures for autoimmune disease, and we see AnTolRx’s approach to re-educate the immune response as one potentially promising strategy to achieve that goal for patients.”