Sonoma Biotherapeutics on Wednesday announced that it received a $45 million payment from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for meeting a significant milestone in its efforts to research, develop and commercialize therapies for inflammatory bowel disease and other ailments.

• The companies are sharing the R&D costs for potential treatments, and will likewise split future commercial expenses and profits.
• Sonoma is focused on treating autoimmune and inflammatory diseases in which a person’s immune system over-responds and attacks the wrong cells. It’s pursuing treatments that use what are known as regulatory T (Treg) cells.
• In March the 5-year-old startup celebrated the opening of its new R&D center and office space on Seattle’s waterfront, and also has offices in South San Francisco.