Ipsen, Paris-headquartered specialty driven pharmaceutical group, and Interprotein Corporation, a Japanese R&D-focused biotechnology company, have signed a research collaboration and an option agreement to develop and commercialize new therapeutic peptides intended for serious medical conditions in endocrinology, such as Cushing's disease.
Under the terms of the agreement, Ipsen will combine its expertise in design and development of therapeutic peptides targeting specific receptors with Interprotein's Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) and helix-loop-helix-peptide (HLHP) technologies.
"We are very excited to be involved in Ipsen's innovative drug discovery program for this rare disease. We are particularly proud that our technological platform has been selected to advance Ipsen's target molecules. This agreement fits our strategy to partner on PPI targeted Drug Discovery activities," said Masato Hosoda, Chief Executive Officer at Interprotein.
"Our intention is for this partnership between Ipsen and Interprotein to potentially provide an innovative solution to improve quality of life of patients with serious diseases, and consequently reinforce the value of HLHP as therapeutic PPI inhibitors," said Hirotsugu Komatsu, Chief Scientific Officer at Interprotein.
Claude Bertrand, Executive Vice president R&D, Chief Scientific Officer at Ipsen, stated, "Ipsen looks forward to benefiting from Interprotein's innovative peptide discovery technologies to support Ipsen's leading therapeutic peptide R&D capabilities and to developing new therapeutic solutions for serious unmet medical needs. Such a collaboration exemplifies Ipsen's strategy in R&D where open innovation and partnerships are key to advance treatments in its focused medical areas."
Under the financial terms of the agreement, should Ipsen exercise its option and fully develop the compound(s), payments to Interprotein could reach up to €165 million, in upfront, success-driven R&D, regulatory and commercial milestones, with additional royalties on world-wide annual net sales.
