PeptiDream Inc., a public Kanagawa, Japan-based biopharmaceutical company (President: Patrick C. Reid, hereinafter “PeptiDream”) today announced that Asahi Kasei Therapeutics (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan; President: Daisuke Okajima, hereinafter “Asahi Kasei Therapeutics”), its collaboration partner, has initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial*1 of “AK1940”, a selective inhibitor of TNF receptor 1 (“TNFR1”).
AK1940 is a macrocyclic peptide discovered through a research collaboration between the two companies using PeptiDream’s proprietary Peptide Discovery Platform System (PDPS®)*2. AK1940 showed potent inhibitory activity and high selectivity for TNFR1 and exhibited efficacy in animal models of inflammatory disease, supporting its potential for the treatment of a broad range of autoimmune diseases.
PeptiDream and Asahi Kasei Therapeutics entered into a collaborative research and development agreement in March 2016, under which the two companies have advanced the discovery of macrocyclic peptides using PeptiDream’s PDPS® technology. Asahi Kasei Therapeutics focuses its drug discovery and development efforts on disease areas including autoimmune diseases, severe infections, transplantation, kidney diseases, and orthopedic conditions. AK1940 is well aligned with Asahi Kasei Therapeutics’ R&D strategy and is expected to contribute to the medium‑ to long‑term growth of the company’s pharmaceuticals business.
“We are delighted to announce the initiation of the Phase 1 clinical trial of AK1940, a promising candidate derived from our research and development collaboration with Asahi Kasei Therapeutics,” said Patrick C. Reid, President of PeptiDream. “By combining PeptiDream’s robust drug discovery capabilities in the field of macrocyclic peptides with Asahi Kasei Therapeutics’ deep expertise in immunological diseases, we have identified a promising therapeutic candidate. The TNF pathway is known to play a critical role in numerous inflammatory, autoimmune, and immune-related diseases, and anti-TNF antibodies are already widely used in clinical practice. A highly selective TNFR1 inhibitor such as AK1940 holds the potential to suppress inflammationin a more targeted way, which may offer a favorable safety and efficacy profile. We look forward to the advance of this program through the clinical development stages.”
With the initiation of the Phase 1 trial, PeptiDream will receive a milestone payment (amount undisclosed). Furthermore, PeptiDream is entitled to receive future clinical milestone payments, as well as royalties based on sales after launch.
*1: jRCT identifier: jRCT2071250141
*2: PDPS® (Peptide Discovery Platform System) is a drug discovery platform that enables the generation of highly diverse libraries —over ten trillion variations—of macrocyclic peptides which can be screened against almost any biological target of interest to rapidly discover hit compounds with a high success rate.
About PeptiDream Inc.
PeptiDream Inc. (Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Section 4587) is leading the translation of macrocyclic peptides into a whole new class of innovative medicines to address unmet medical needs and improve the quality of life of patients worldwide. In its radiopharmaceutical business, through its wholly-owned subsidiary PDRadiopharma, PeptiDream markets and sells a number of approved radiopharmaceuticals and radiodiagnostics in Japan, as well as leveraging its proprietary Peptide Discovery Platform System (PDPS) technology to discover and develop a deep pipeline of innovative targeted radiotherapeutics and radiodiagnostics, spanning both wholly-owned internal programs and globally partnered programs. In its non-radiopharmaceutical business, PeptiDream is similarly leveraging PDPS to discover and develop a broad and diverse pipeline of investigational peptide therapeutics, peptide drug conjugates (PDC) and multi-functional peptide conjugates (MPC) across an extensive global network of discovery and development partners. PeptiDream is headquartered in Kawasaki, Japan. For more information about our science and pipeline, please visit www.peptidream.com.
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