Grifols (MCE:GRF, MCE:GRF.P, NASDAQ:GRFS), a global healthcare company and leading manufacturer of plasma-derived medicines,  announced that it is collaborating with a biotechnology startup, FcR Therapeutics, to develop recombinant nanobodies to treat autoimmune diseases.

The nanobodies, which are small highly specialized antibody fragments, would act to restrain or inhibit the activity of certain Fc receptors (FcR), naturally occurring proteins found on the surface of immune cells that play a crucial role in immune responses, such as driving inflammation or pathogen neutralization.

Grifols is helping seed the work of FcR Therapeutics, based in Utrecht, the Netherlands, in addition to contributing its vast knowledge of immunoglobulins, the human immune system and recombinant proteins.

Patients with autoimmune conditions have an overactive immune system in which certain Fc receptors facilitate attacks on the body’s own healthy tissue. Suppressing their action can regulate excessive immune activity.

Immunoglobulins and their immunomodulatory effects normally help treat autoimmune diseases such as chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP), immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) and Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS).

“Grifols is excited to contribute its deepening knowledge of therapeutic antibody development, including recombinants, to FcR Therapeutics in its work to treat immune system disorders with unmet medical needs,” said Dr. Jörg Schüttrumpf, Grifols Chief Scientific Innovation Officer. “We continue to enhance our internal innovation portfolio, covering late- and early-stage projects across our core therapeutic areas, with complementary external capabilities to develop new treatments for patients.”

Grifols’ collaboration with FcR Therapeutics is part of the company’s ongoing commitment to innovation in the autoimmune disease therapeutic space.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Grifols, enabling us to develop key therapeutics for autoimmune patients around the world,” said Mark de Boer, CEO of FcR Therapeutics. “We believe that targeting Fc receptors through our nanobody approach will truly change the course of autoimmune diseases and transform the lives of patients.”