French multinational pharmaceutical company Sanofi said that it is joining hand with Germany’s Evotec and Austrian biotech firm Apeiron Biologics to develop a new immune system-boosting cancer medicine.

The Paris-based company said on Monday that the tie-up would strictly focus its attention on developing small molecule-based immune-oncology treatments that could be given to fight both blood cancer and solid tumors.

The collaboration includes major research and development efforts to advance a first-in-class small molecule approach to treat solid and haematopoietic cancers by enhancing the anti-tumor activity of human lymphocytes.

The alliance will also focus on identification of novel small molecule hits and their targets for next-generation therapies in immuno-oncology which are expected to complement the current offerings of checkpoint inhibitors.

Experts said that in some recent years, the immuno-oncology has emerged as a promising filed to create some superior and potentially curative treatment options for many cancer patients.

The companies in the collaboration affirmed that the collaboration has been set as an initiative to support long-term pipeline building for the trio. The collaboration will further enhance and complement Sanofi’s extensive oncology portfolio.

It will even allow Evotec to make entry into the drug discovery area of immuno-oncology and will substantially support Apeiron Biologics’ strategy focusing on novel and innovative checkpoint inhibiting approaches.

Dr. Werner Lanthaler, Chief Executive Officer of Evotec, said, “We are pleased and proud that the joint efforts in immuno-oncology with Apeiron have led to this partnership with Sanofi. The collaboration is a great example of a most efficient translation from early-stage research to Pharma development”.