Synairgen shares surge on research collaboration deal

(ShareCast News) - Synairgen surged after announcing that it has entered into a research collaboration deal with Australian pharmaceutical company Pharmaxis.The respiratory drug discovery and development company said they will develop a selective inhibitor to the lysyl oxidase type 2 enzyme to treat the fatal lung disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which affects around 100,000 people in the US.Synairgen said current products are expected to produce global revenues in excess of $1.1bn by 2017.Chief executive officer Richard Marsden said: "We are delighted to be collaborating with Pharmaxis in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a severe and fatal lung disease. Pharmaxis has a proven competence in the discovery and development of novel molecules, making it an ideal partner."Using existing financial resources from our fundraising in 2014, we will apply our BioBank platform of advanced human tissue models and understanding of respiratory biology to develop the LOXL2 inhibitor."At 0926 BST, Synairgen shares were up 7.5% at 36p.