On February 1, 2022 FIMECS, Inc. (CEO: Yusuke Tominari, Ph.D., "FIMECS") a private biotechnology company creating a new class of drugs based on targeted protein degradation, reported that FIMECS has entered into a research collaboration with Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Kenji Yasukawa, Ph.D., "Astellas") on small molecule protein degraders against multiple targets for a multi-year period (Press release, FIMECS, FEB 1, 2022, View Source [SID1234630696]). The collaboration will leverage FIMECS’ expertise in targeted protein degradation and its proprietary RaPPIDS platform and Astellas’ scientific, regulatory, and clinical capabilities to accelerate the development of life-saving medicines to patients around the world.
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Under the terms of the agreement, FIMECS will conduct research activities on multiple targets and Astellas will advance candidates for development and potential commercialization. Upon designation of a clinical development candidate, Astellas has the option to exclusively license degrader molecules against the designated target. FIMECS will receive an upfront payment and funding to support Astellas-related research. Additionally, FIMECS could earn from potential payments based upon the successful achievement of specified research, development, regulatory, and commercial milestones for all the targets initially selected by Astellas. In addition, FIMECS will receive single digit tiered royalties on future net sales on any products that may result from this collaboration. Astellas may, at its discretion, elect to expand the collaboration to include additional disease targets. This decision would trigger an additional one-time payment, as well as potential payment of milestones and royalties on a product-by-product basis.
"We are thrilled to partner with Japanese top-tier global pharmaceutical company, Astellas to combine their deep understanding of biology and strong clinical development capabilities with FIMECS’ proprietary protein degrader platform," said Yusuke Tominari, Ph.D., CEO, FIMECS. "We have already identified unique E3 ligase binders and established highly effective synthetic method as a degrader discovery platform, RaPPIDS. We are very pleased that our platform has been wellreceived by the organization. This strategic partnership will broaden the application of targeted protein degradation to address diseases with high unmet medical needs. We hope to continue this collaboration with Astellas with the goal of potentially delivering life-saving medicines to patients all over the world."