Japanese Sosei Group’s wholly owned subsidiary Heptares Therapeutics has formed a new drug research and development (R&D) collaboration with Imperial College London, UK.
During the multi-year partnership, the firms will work together to accelerate discovery and translational research on new and existing G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) disease target opportunities for gastro-intestinal (GI) tract.
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With a focus on modulating these GPCRs, the project will support the use of Heptares structure-based methods to develop new treatments for GI conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease.
Sosei Group and Heptares Therapeutics chief R&D officer Malcolm Weir said: “This collaboration with Imperial College London builds on existing GPCR programmes implicated in immune disorders and GI function and we are excited by the potential it offers to support the identification and translation of new therapies for patients with GI diseases.”
Heptares will sponsor and support different programmes of the collaboration through target discovery and validation, and will carry out the advancement and commercialisation of any related compounds.
The R&D alliance is also set to support ongoing discovery and development programmes at Sosei and Heptares.
Imperial College London Nutrition and Food Network head professor Gary Frost said: “This research will build on the growing body of knowledge around these key membrane receptors in the gut, investigating their potential in therapeutic interventions.
“We hope this new collaboration with Heptares will enable us to uncover new druggable targets and develop new treatments, which could have far-reaching impact for patients with GI conditions.”
