Gliknik

Gliknik Inc. is a privately held biopharmaceutical company, established in 2007, that focuses on the development of novel biologic therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company was co-founded by David S. Block, M.D., MBA, and Scott Strome, M.D. Their collaboration grew from a friendship and a shared ambition to leverage their medical and scientific backgrounds to create impactful drugs. Dr. Block serves as Chairman and CEO, bringing extensive experience from roles at DuPont Merck, DuPont Pharmaceuticals, and as COO of Celera Genomics. Dr. Strome is a distinguished researcher and clinician, recognized as a co-inventor of antibody therapeutics to PD-L1 and credited with advancing the understanding of immune system interactions in treating cancer.

The company's business model centers on in-house drug discovery and development, followed by strategic partnerships and licensing agreements with major pharmaceutical corporations to manage late-stage clinical trials and commercialization. A landmark achievement was the 2013 exclusive worldwide licensing agreement with Pfizer for the drug candidate GL-2045. This deal included a $25 million upfront payment to Gliknik, with subsequent milestone payments, such as a $15 million payment in 2019 upon the initiation of Phase I trials. This strategy allows Gliknik to generate revenue through upfront payments, milestone achievements, and potential future royalties on net sales, while mitigating the high costs of bringing a drug to market.

Gliknik's product pipeline is built on two primary research platforms. One platform develops immunomodulators, such as cancer vaccines, designed to stimulate the body's own immune system to target and fight tumors. The other key platform is its Stradomer™ technology, which creates recombinant compounds engineered to bind to multiple targets, mimicking the therapeutic effects of Intravenous Immune Globulin (IVIG). GL-2045 (now PF-06755347 under Pfizer) emerged from this platform as a recombinant fusion protein designed to treat autoimmune diseases like Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP). Unlike traditional IVIG derived from thousands of human blood donors, GL-2045 is a recombinant product, which avoids the risk of blood-borne pathogens and can be produced in limitless quantities, potentially addressing chronic supply shortages of IVIG. The company is also advancing other candidates, including GL-0719, a complement modulator for autoimmune diseases, and biropepimut-S for immuno-oncology.

Keywords: biopharmaceutical, immunology, autoimmune diseases, cancer therapies, drug discovery, PD-L1 therapeutics, complement modulators, IVIG mimetic, recombinant fusion protein, Stradomer technology, GL-2045, Pfizer partnership, oncology vaccines, orphan drugs, clinical trials, immunotherapy, David Block, Scott Strome, biologics development, licensing agreements