PROVIDENCE – EpiVax Inc. said Tuesday it has signed a research deal with the giant Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG to evaluate the biotechnology firm’s main product candidate. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The agreement calls for EpiVax and Roche to work together on in silico, in vitro and in vivo experiments to establish proof of concept for the local firm’s Tregitope technology, which could potentially improve immune responses to certain drugs.

Basel, Switzerland-based Roche – which sells pharmaceuticals such as antiviral drug Tamiflu and acne treatment Accutane – has also received a nonexclusive option to use Tregitope as it develops protein therapeutic drugs. Roche also has the right to a license the technology for specific products under pre-negotiated terms.

“Roche brings a wealth of experience, clinical expertise and resources to this collaboration,” said EpiVax CEO Dr. Anne S. De Groot. “Working together, it is our intent to integrate the Tregitope technology into drugs that will improve human health on a global scale.”

De Groot - who is also director of the University of Rhode Island’s Institute for Immunology and Informatics - and William Martin, EpiVax’s chief information officer and chief operating officer, published the findings that led to Tregitope last year in the journal Blood. The company operates out of an 8,000-square-foot work space in the Jewelry District.

Additional information is available at epivax.com.