UPPTHERA and ComInnex sign research collaboration for the development of novel Proteolysis-Targeting Chimera candidates

On May 04, 2021 UPPTHERA, a pharmaceutical venture company aiming for new drugs based on targeted protein degradation (TPD) technology and ComInnex, a specialist chemistry group with expertise in the design and synthesis of small molecules for drug discovering reported the companies will accelerate the development of new proteolysis targeting chimeras (commonly known as PROTAC) or Molecular Glues. Within the framework of the collaboration, UPPTHERA and ComInnex will co-verify a number of potential novel E3 ligase ligands which have been designed by ComInnex and co-develop TPD chimera molecules to which the novel E3 ligase ligands will be applied. After that, UPPTHERA will manage downstream development (pre-clinical & clinical trials) of the Targeted Protein Degradation pipeline. The chemistry and biology assays will be developed and performed by UPPTHERA whilst ComInnex will perform all chemistry aspects of synthesis, optimization and scale up.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Under the terms of the collaboration, the companies will share ownership of the projects and cover their own costs of development.

"ComInnex and UPPTHERA are both young and enterprising companies so it makes sense to collaborate in this way to fast track our programs and our experiences in order to bring novel drugs to market," observed Alex Drijver, CEO of ComInnex. "At UPPTHERA we have developed a platform for the identification of new E3 Ligases and our collaboration with ComInnex will allow expansion of novel E3 ligase ligands, which is a key bottleneck in targeted protein degradation drug discovery," added SiWoo Choi, Founder and CEO of UPPTHERA.