Daiichi Sankyo has entered into a drug discovery and licensing agreement with Heptares Therapeutics Limited, a Hertfordshire, UK-headquartered clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Sosei Group Corporation, a Japanese biopharmaceutical company, for a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) that plays a role in relieving pain.

Under the agreement, Heptares will apply its proprietary stabilized receptor (StaR) technology to engineer thermally stabilized forms of the GPCR as the basis for the drug discovery program. Heptares will also employ advanced structural biology and rational drug design approaches, X-ray crystallography, and fragment screening to delineate the GPCR’s structure and to generate lead candidates. Daiichi Sankyo will also participate in lead generation and in vivo models.

Daiichi Sankyo will be eligible to receive exclusive global rights to develop, manufacture, and commercialize small molecules discovered by Heptares focused on the nominated GPCR. In return, Heptares will receive an upfront payment, research funding, and is eligible to receive additional research, development, and commercialization milestone payments. In addition, Heptares will be eligible to receive royalties on net sales of products resulting from the alliance.

Source: Daiichi Sankyo