On June 29, 2022 Generian Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ("Generian") and Mitobridge, Inc. (a wholly owned subsidiary of Astellas Pharma Inc.) reported that they have entered into a collaboration and exclusive license agreement to discover and develop novel small molecules for undruggable therapeutic targets by using a proprietary drug discovery platform for diseases that have limited treatment options (Press release, Astellas Pharma, JUN 29, 2022, View Source [SID1234616391]).
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Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will jointly conduct research and preclinical development activities to identify novel monovalent small molecules that modulate target proteins through activation, stabilization or degradation as potential development candidates. Astellas will be solely responsible for clinical development, manufacturing and commercialization of all products arising from the joint research activities. Generian will receive an upfront payment and is eligible to receive success-based milestone payments that could result in payments of over $180 million, along with single digit royalties on global net sales of those products.
"We are excited to collaborate with Astellas and believe our strategy can successfully mine for candidate drugs for therapeutically relevant targets that are currently considered undruggable," said Hank Safferstein, PhD, JD, Chief Executive Officer of Generian. "Our small molecule discovery approach allows us to rapidly screen and identify potential drug candidates in an entirely new way in order to develop first-in-class medicines."
"Our collaboration with Generian is an exciting and transformative opportunity to accelerate our drug discovery activities in the area of undruggable target space," said David Barrett, Ph.D., Division Head and President of Mitobridge. "We are very excited to work with a world-class team of collaborators to deliver significant new treatment options for patients suffering from currently intractable or poorly served diseases."