Takeda and enGene partner to develop gastro drugs
pharmafile | January 13, 2016 | News story | Research and Development | Takeda
Takeda is teaming up with Canadian biotech enGene to develop novel therapies for specialty gastrointestinal (GI) diseases, using enGene’s ‘gene pill’ gene delivery platform.
The strategic alliance will make use of enGene’s non-viral vector platform to deliver therapeutic genes to cells of the gut lining.
Under the terms of the agreement, enGene will develop up to two targets selected by Takeda through pre-clinical proof of concept and studies to enable an investigational new drug application. If an application is made, Takeda will have an option to exclusively license the global rights for the product candidates.
EnGene will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and reimbursement of all R&D costs incurred during the development of the selected targets, and is also is eligible for milestone payments for the product candidates and future sales royalties.
Takeda will also collaborate with enGene in developing a platform for the oral delivery of antibodies. The system is currently primarily used to deliver nucleotides (DNA and RNAi) to mucosal tissues to treat a wide variety of diseases by either inducing expression of therapeutic proteins or by suppressing the expression of harmful proteins.
“We aim to have a positive impact on patients’ lives by translating unique innovations in science into life-changing medicines to treat GI disorders,” says Gareth Hicks, who leads gastroenterology discovery research at Takeda. “Therefore, we are pleased to partner with enGene to further investigate the potential of their ‘gene pill’ delivery platform.”
“We are very excited to be collaborating with the team at Takeda to investigate new medicines for the specialty GI market using enGene’s innovative gene delivery platform for the gut,” says Dr Anthony Cheung, chief executive and a co-founder of enGene. “In addition to gaining non-dilutive funding to support the development of our own products, this alliance provides our company an excellent opportunity to grow our drug development capabilities through working with a leading pharmaceutical company in the gastroenterology space.”
Joel Levy
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