SYROS Pharmaceuticals said on Friday (Jul 22) Pfizer will terminate a licence deal between the companies related to the development of novel therapies for two blood disorders.

Shares of Syros were down 5.7 per cent in trading after the bell.

The termination will end the company’s more than three-year long collaboration with sickle cell disease drugmaker Global Blood Therapeutics (GBT) that Pfizer bought in a US$5.4 billion deal last August.

The partnership for sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia - diseases that affect the production and nature of hemoglobin in the blood is set to end on Oct 16, the company said.

Syros “intends to seek to identify a new out-licensing partner for its sickle cell disease program,” it added. REUTERS