Ipsen, Interprotein partner to develop new therapeutic peptides in endocrinology

The peptides are aimed to treat severe medical conditions such as Cushing’s disease.

Under the research collaboration, Ipsen’s expertise in design and development of therapeutic peptides targeting specific receptors will be integrated with Interprotein’s protein-protein interaction (PPI) and helix-loop-helix-peptide (HLHP) technologies.

Ipsen will have an option to exclusive rights for the development and commercialization of new drug candidates.

If Ipsen exercise its option and fully develop the compounds, the company should pay Interprotein up to €165m, in upfront, R&D, regulatory and commercial milestones along with royalties on global annual net sales.

Interprotein chief scientific officer Hirotsugu Komatsu said: "Our intention is for this partnership between Ipsen and Interprotein to potentially provide an innovative solution to improve quality of life of patients with serious diseases, and consequently reinforce the value of HLHP as therapeutic PPI inhibitors."

Ipsen executive vice president of R&D and chief scientific officer Claude Bertrand said: "Ipsen looks forward to benefiting from Interprotein’s innovative peptide discovery technologies to support Ipsen’s leading therapeutic peptide R&D capabilities and to developing new therapeutic solutions for serious unmet medical needs."

Last month, Ipsen and EpiVax completed a collaborative project that offers a novel approach to create next generation botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) and targeted secretion inhibitor (TSI) therapeutics.