PeptiDream and Teijin Pharma sign peptide discovery collaboration deal

As per the deal, PeptiDream will use its Peptide Discovery Platform System (PDPS) technology for generating macrocyclic/constrained peptides against several targets of interest selected by Teijin.

Teijin will have the right for developing and commercializing all the generated therapeutic peptides.

The company will also be allowed to use the identified macrocyclic/constrained peptides as initial compounds to develop small molecules therapeutics against the collaboration targets.

PeptiDream will secure an undisclosed upfront payment, research funding and will be eligible for payments after meeting several preclinical and clinical development milestones. The company may also receive royalties on sales of any products.

PeptiDream CEO Kiichi Kubota said: "In collaboration with Teijin, we hope to use identified peptide leads as a starting point for small molecule drug design, an aspect of our PDPS platform that has not been overly leveraged to date, and should lead to the further expansion of alliance businesses."

In the last five years, PeptiDream formed funded discovery collaborations with several pharmaceutical firms such as Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers-Squibb, Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Mitsubishi Tanabe, Daiichi Sankyo, Merck, and Sanofi.

A strategic collaboration was also formed with French pharmaceutical firm Ipsen. PeptiDream has transferred its PDPS discovery platform for broad use to Bristol-Myers-Squibb and Novartis.

PeptiDream’s PD Platform is a peptide generation and selection platform based on three technologies that include flexizyme; translation, cyclization, and peptide modifying technologies; and PD display.

The platform enables the company to find several novel nonstandard macrocylic peptides against a target in weeks, covering a range of peptide classes and structures.