These potential drug targets were identified using Novo’s proprietary computer model of the ghrelin receptor and already have shown good in vivo proof-of-concept data, according to Sapphire.
William Polvino, president and CEO of Sapphire, said: “Licensing this promising discovery-stage ghrelin antagonist program from Novo Nordisk complements Sapphire’s clinical-stage agonist program and increases the breadth of our ghrelin portfolio. We are pursuing several strategic options for the next stage of this program, namely identifying lead compounds for IND-enabling toxicology studies.”
Financial terms of the licensing arrangement were not disclosed.