Mario Maresca

Philogen S.p.A.

Philogen is a Swiss-Italian integrated biotechnology company founded in 1996, with the mission to develop innovative biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of angiogenesis-related disorders. Angiogenesis, i.e. the formation of new blood vessels, is a characteristic feature of many severe pathologies such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and age-related macular degeneration. The company has been a pioneer in the isolation, engineering and clinical development of lead products capable of targeting angiogenesis in-vivo and has been the first in the world to demonstrate that human monoclonal antibodies, specific for a marker of angiogenesis, can efficiently and selectively target the tumor neo-vasculature both in animal models and in cancer patients. At present, Philogen has four promising anti-cancer antibody derivatives and an antibody derivative for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in clinical studies. Two registrational studies are in planning. Our Zurich-based daughter company Philochem serving as the R&D unit isolates the most promising candidate products, while in Siena (Italy) the pharmaceuticals are produced according to GMP standards and advanced to clinical trials. Philogen generates revenue from a diversified range of activities, has signed agreements with major pharmaceutical companies and owns a diversified portfolio of international patents.