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Polyphor achieves milestone in Taisho collaboration

Allschwil, Switzerland, December 12, 2016. Polyphor Ltd. today announces the achievement of an important milestone in its collaboration with Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. ("Taisho"), to identify novel drug candidates using Polyphor's proprietary macrocycle platform. Taisho is a fully owned subsidiary of Taisho Pharmaceutical Holdings Co., Ltd. listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Compounds resulting from the collaboration have shown excellent activity in key animal disease models in a core research area of Taisho, which has resulted in an undisclosed milestone payment to Polyphor. The parties extend their collaboration, aiming to select a pre-clinical development candidate.

Daniel Obrecht, Ph.D., CSO of Polyphor, said: "We have enjoyed a very productive collaboration with Taisho and are proud to have achieved this important milestone. We are confident that our joint research efforts will lead to candidate compounds with the potential to be first-in-class or best-in-class pharmaceuticals in areas of high unmet medical need."

About Polyphor:
Polyphor is a privately held Swiss Specialty Pharma Company focused on the development of macrocycle drugs that address antibiotic resistances and rare pulmonary diseases. The company's lead drug candidates include:

- Murepavadin (POL7080, in Phase II), a highly specific antibiotic with a new mechanism of action,to treat Pseudomonas infections

- POL6014 (in Phase Ib), an inhaled inhibitor of neutrophil elastase for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, and other lung diseases

- Balixafortide (POL6326, in Phase Ib), a CXCR4 antagonist for combination treatments in oncology

In addition, Polyphor is developing a new class of innovative broad-spectrum antibiotics to address infections caused by difficult-to-treat, resistant Gram-negative pathogens - one of the most pressing emerging medical needs.

Polyphor leverages its proprietary macrocycle technology platform to efficiently develop its own product portfolio and to pursue licensing and collaboration opportunities with industry partners. It has collaborative partnerships with Boehringer Ingelheim, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Novartis, Gilead Sciences and Taisho.