Astellas and PeptiDream enter into collaboration to develop next-generation Protein Degradation Drugs

On July 26, 2023, Astellas and PeptiDream announced that they have entered into a research collaboration and licensing agreement to discover innovative protein degradation drugs for two targets selected by Astellas. Astellas will provide PeptiDream with an advance payment of 3 billion Yen.

PeptiDream is a biopharmaceutical Contract Research Organization (CRO) located in Japan, possessing a proprietary Peptide Discovery Platform System (PDPS) that can efficiently produce a highly diversified library of non-standard peptides for identifying high-efficiency and selective 'hit' peptides, which are then developed into therapies based on peptides, small molecules, or conjugate peptides. Utilizing PDPS technology, the company advances the discovery of peptide drugs, small molecule drugs, and the development of therapeutic and diagnostic drugs using peptide-drug conjugates (PDCs). It has collaborated with numerous multinational pharmaceutical companies, including Eli Lilly, Merck, Roche, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, and Shionogi. In the agreement reached with Astellas, PeptiDream is eligible to receive up to 206 billion Yen in discovery, development, and commercialization milestone payments for each target. Furthermore, PeptiDream is also eligible to receive single-digit royalty payments on the net sales of any products resulting from the collaboration.

Targeted protein degradation is one of the main focuses of Astellas, and the company has previously reached a cooperation agreement on multiple innovative protein degradation therapies with Cullgen Biotech. On June 15, 2023, Astellas and Cullgen reached a research collaboration and exclusive option agreement to discover multiple innovative protein degradation therapies. According to the agreement, the two companies aim to develop multiple targeted protein degradation therapies by combining Cullgen's targeted protein degradation platform uSMITE with novel E3 ligands and Astellas' drug discovery capabilities. The total amount of this collaboration exceeds 1.9 billion US dollars.

Based on the information disclosed by Synapse (click the card below to access Astellas' indications directly after registration, you can get basic information, pipeline layout, revenue, research funds, investment and financing, etc. for this institution for free), as of July 27, 2023, Astellas has made substantial investments in small molecule drugs and biologics (monoclonal antibodies, adeno-associated virus gene therapy, ADC, cell therapy etc.). Their research and development are focused in areas such as oncology, neurology, endocrinology and metabolism. Looking forward to seeing Astellas' future performance.