Partnering | Partners
AstraZeneca
| Heptares and AstraZeneca (and MedImmune) entered a four-year collaboration in 2011 focused on the discovery and development of potential new medicines targeting certain specific GPCR targets linked to CNS/pain, cardiovascular/metabolic and inflammatory disorders.
Under the terms of the agreement, AstraZeneca gains worldwide commercial rights to product candidates emerging from the collaboration and will be responsible for preclinical and clinical development. Heptares receives $6.25 million in cash up front plus committed research funding. Heptares will also receive significant future payments depending on delivery of agreed milestones, as well as royalties on sales of all products discovered through the collaboration.
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Shire
| Heptares signed an exclusive option agreement with Shire in 2011 for worldwide development and commercial rights to a novel small molecule adenosine A2A antagonist discovered by Heptares and currently in preclinical development. Inhibition of this GPCR has proved to be clinically effective in treating symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and may offer benefits in other CNS diseases.
Heptares has received an undisclosed upfront payment and is eligible, upon exercise of the option by Shire, to an option exercise payment, future milestone payments, plus royalties on product sales.
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Takeda Pharmaceutical Company
| Heptares and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company entered a two-year drug discovery collaboration in 2011 focused on a single G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) that plays an important role in the pathology of central nervous system disorders.
This GPCR has proved intractable using historical drug discovery efforts, due to its instability when removed from cell membranes and the resulting lack of insight into its structure. A new medicine targeting this GPCR would be first-in-class.
The terms include upfront and milestone payments to Heptares of up to approximately US$100 million and royalties on sales.
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Novartis Option Fund
| Heptares and Novartis Option Fund (NOF) signed an agreement in 2009 under which Heptares will apply its StaR® technology to a target identified by NOF and drive a drug discovery programme against that target. The agreement includes upfront and potential milestone payments to Heptares totalling up to $200 million plus royalties. Further financial terms were not disclosed.
In January 2011, Heptares announced it had generated a StaR® to the GPCR target nominated by NOF. By achieving this milestone, Heptares made this important target accessible, for the first time, to structure-based drug discovery technologies and approaches, thereby presenting opportunities to discover completely novel drug leads against the target. Heptares also received its first milestone payment from NOF.
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