PeptiDream, Merck enter into peptide discovery collaboration

Under the deal, PeptiDream will use its peptide discovery platform system (PDPS) technology to produce macrocylic/constrained peptides against multiple targets of interest selected by Merck.

Merck will have the right to develop and commercialize all therapeutic peptides resulting from the collaboration and will also retain an option to nonexclusively license the PDPS technology in the future.

The deal will see PeptiDream receive an undisclosed upfront payment, research funding and as well as it will be eligible for payments associated with the achievement of certain preclinical and clinical development milestones.

Additionally, PeptiDream is eligible to secure royalties on sales of any products that arise from the collaboration.

PeptiDream CEO Kiichi Kubota said: "We are very excited to collaborate with Merck. PeptiDream has emerged as a major player in the constrained peptide space.

"Our unique PDPS platform allows us to rapidly build highly diverse constrained peptide libraries, largely tailored to the individual target, leading to the rapid identification of chemically diverse hits, which can then be quickly assessed for the desired biological activity profiles.

"No other technology can create such a chemically and structurally diverse set of functional and developable leads in such a short period of time."

PeptiDream has established funded discovery collaborations with many leading pharmaceutical firms in the past five years, and its PDPS discovery platform has been transferred to Bristol-Myers-Squibb and Novartis.

Image: PeptiDream’s PDPS technology will be used to produce macrocylic/constrained peptides against multiple for Merck. Photo: courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net / Wagging DogMedia Limited.