Orca Pharmaceuticals, a UK-based biopharmaceutical company, and AstraZeneca formed a three-year collaboration to develop inhibitors of retinoic acid–related orphan nuclear receptor gamma (RORγ). Inhibitors of this receptor are believed to have potential against a wide range of autoimmune diseases for which there is currently no safe, orally available and effective treatment. RORγ plays a key role in the immune system. Specifically, it helps to convert a population of immune cells called CD4+ ...