BridGene Biosciences announced that it has reached a cooperation with Takeda Pharmaceuticals to jointly develop small-molecule drugs for "un-druggable" targets

Sunnyvale, California, USA March 30, 2021 - BridGene Biosciences, Inc. announced that it has reached a strategic research cooperation and licensing agreement with Takeda Pharmaceuticals. BridGene Biosciences is a biotechnology company that uses cutting-edge chemical proteomics technology to develop small-molecule drugs for "unable to drug" targets. In this cooperation, the two parties will initiate up to five new drug R&D projects, using BridGene's unique IMTAC™ chemical proteomics platform to discover new targets and small molecule drug candidates for Takeda, and Takeda will advance these drug candidates into the clinical development stage. .

According to the terms of the cooperation, Takeda will pay BridGene a down payment to obtain authorization to use the IMTAC™ technology developed by BridGene. For the targets selected by Takeda, Takeda will obtain the exclusive rights to develop and commercialize drug candidates produced by the joint research projects of both parties. BridGene will be eligible to receive more than US$500 million in potential preclinical, clinical and commercial milestone payments, as well as royalties for future sales of jointly developed marketed drugs.

Dr. Cao Ping, Founder and CEO of BridGene

Dr. Cao Ping, the founder and CEO of BridGene Biosciences, said, “The cooperation with Takeda Pharmaceuticals is an important milestone for BridGene. This will be the first of many new drug discovery and development cooperation based on our pioneering chemical proteomics technology The first one. Our approach to drug development has two important components: 1. Use covalent small molecules to screen in living cells to discover "un-druggable" targets, including "un-druggable" with shallow protein pockets Targets, and "non-drug-free" targets that form dynamic protein pockets in the living cell environment; 2. Use chemical proteomics and mass spectrometry to determine the various targets that small molecules bind to in living cells and their binding strength , In order to develop highly active and selective small molecule drug candidates. These two parts can be combined with phenotypic screening technology to determine the targets that drive the occurrence and development of diseases, and to determine the interaction with small molecule drug candidates in living cells To accelerate the discovery of seed compounds and the development of lead compounds.”

This cooperation is an extension of BridGene's first cooperation project successfully completed with Takeda Pharmaceutical in 2020. The first R&D project of this cooperation is to identify targets that are closely related to a certain neurodegenerative disease phenotype, and jointly develop small molecule drug candidates for this disease phenotype. As part of the cooperation, Takeda has the right to initiate up to four other R&D projects.

Dr. Ceri Davies, Head of the Neuroscience Drug R&D Department of Takeda Pharmaceuticals, said: "Using BridGene's unique chemical proteomics platform can help us quickly identify new targets and new drug candidates for the underlying mechanisms of neurological diseases. Such collaborations are for us. The research and development strategy of precision medicine to treat neuroscience diseases is crucial."

About BridGene Biosciences

BridGene Biosciences is a biotechnology company dedicated to discovering and developing innovative small-molecule drugs for "unpreparable" targets, providing new approaches for disease treatment. Utilizing its unique chemical proteomics platform IMTAC™, BridGene can screen small molecules for all proteins in living cells, thereby discovering drug candidates for high-value "un-druggable" targets. The company's ultimate goal is to develop high-activity and high-selectivity small-molecule drugs, and to create new opportunities for small-molecule targeted therapies for diseases where there is no effective treatment method. For several types of disease fields with a large number of unmet medical needs, the company is advancing a product R&D pipeline with multiple innovative drugs.

Reprinted from: The Age of Medicine  https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/b3fBSF_65rzVcRKl0HqyFQ