XL-protein Germany, a privately owned biopharmaceutical company, has licensed its proprietary PASylation technology to MSD Animal Health for development of biopharmaceuticals for animal health.

The agreement follows a research collaboration between the German firm and the European arm of US drugmaker Merck & Co begun in 2012. Under the terms, MSD Animal Health will acquire worldwide exclusive rights for certain biopharmaceutical drug candidates.

To support the commercialization effort, XL protein said it will further optimize the drug candidates against undisclosed MSD targets, using its PASylation platform for plasma half-life extension. The technology has previously been used for human health medications.

MSD will be responsible for clinical development and commercialization of biopharmaceuticals generated under the collaboration.

According to XL-protein, the fully biological PASylation technology can be applied to approved biopharmaceuticals to yield second-generation drugs or to innovative therapeutic proteins or peptides, thus allowing less frequent and lower dosing combined with better patient tolerability.

The German company pursues the preclinical and the clinical development of PASylated biologics in commercially attractive disease areas. It also has several collaborations with other companies in the pharma and biotech industries and offers licenses.