Under the agreement, PeptiDream will leverage its PDPS technology to discover, optimise, and develop macrocyclic peptide candidates for use as peptide-RI drug conjugates against targets of interest to Genentech
PeptiDream and Genentech to discover peptide-RI drug conjugates. (Credit: CDC on Unsplash)
Biopharmaceutical company PeptiDream has signed a new multi-target collaboration and licence deal with US-based Genentech to discover and develop new macrocyclic peptide-radioisotope (peptide-RI) drug conjugates.
According to the terms of the agreement, Japan-based PeptiDream will leverage its Peptide Discovery Platform System (PDPS) technology to discover, optimise, and develop macrocyclic peptide candidates.
These candidates will be used as peptide-RI drug conjugates against targets of interest to Genentech, a member of the Roche Group.
PeptiDream will lead early preclinical development before transitioning peptide-RI drug conjugate products produced by the partnership to Genentech for further research and commercialisation.
In Japan, the biopharmaceutical firm will continue to have the exclusive right to develop and market such peptide-RI drug conjugate products.
PeptiDream president and CEO Patrick Reid said: “We are extremely excited to announce this new collaboration with Genentech for the discovery and development of peptide-RI drug conjugates.
“PeptiDream is a global leader in the discovery and development of peptide-RI conjugates, and through our PDRadiopharma, is one of the leading radiopharmaceutical companies in Japan.
“Combining this expertise with Genentech’s powerful clinical development and commercialisation capabilities, we hope to bring innovative first-in-class peptide radiopharmaceuticals to patients worldwide.”
The previous multi-target collaboration and licence agreement from December 2015, the licensing of PeptiDream’s PDPS technology by Genentech in 2016, and the expansion of the companies’ collaboration in 2018 served as the foundation for the latest agreement.
According to the terms of the contract, PeptiDream will receive an upfront payment of $40m from Genentech and be eligible for payments based on the achievement of specific development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, with the potential for payments of up to $1bn.
Additionally, the Japanese firm is qualified to receive tier-based royalties on the net sales of any such products resulting from the partnership.
In July this year, Astellas Pharma and PeptiDream signed a research collaboration and licence agreement to discover novel protein degraders for two targets chosen by Astellas Pharma.