果冻影院

The second collaboration with Takeda is focused on developing new drug treatments for fibrostenotic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as Crohn鈥檚 disease and ulcerative colitis.

Under the terms of this agreement, Engitix and Takeda will collaborate in the confirmation and validation of drug targets and the preclinical development of therapeutics in IBD using Engitix鈥檚 unique extracellular matrix (ECM) discovery platform. The ECM is the bioactive scaffold that provides structural and biochemical support to cells within human tissues and organs.

Takeda will have exclusive rights to develop and commercialise certain clinical candidate drugs generated against validated targets arising from the collaboration. Engitix will be eligible to receive a total of up to approximately $300 million (US) for the achievement of preclinical, development, regulatory and commercial milestones over the course of the partnership, as well as further royalty payments based on sales of commercialised products. This agreement builds on the collaboration between the companies announced in mid-2020, worth up to $500 million, for the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for advanced fibrotic liver diseases, including non-alcoholic steatohepatitis.

Dr Giuseppe Mazza, a 果冻影院 graduate, Co-Founder and CEO of Engitix, and honorary Associate Professor in the 果冻影院 Division of Medicine, commented:听鈥淲e are delighted that based on positive progress in our existing R&D partnership in liver diseases, Takeda has extended the scope of the drug discovery collaboration to now include fibrostenotic IBD. It underlines the value they see in using our ECM platform and the successful co-operation we have established.

鈥淓CM remodelling plays a key role in driving IBD pathogenesis forward, and targeting this process in a specific and fine-tuned manner may contribute to the treatment of IBD by preventing both propagated inflammation, fibrosis and stricturing disease.鈥�

Engitix was spun-out of the 果冻影院 Institute for Liver & Digestive Health (ILDH), 果冻影院 Division of Medicine, in 2016 by Dr Mazza, an inventor of decellularisation protocols for human liver and other tissues, and Professor Massimo Pinzani, Director of ILDH and expert in the field of liver fibrosis, who continues to support the company as Chair of the Scientific Advisor Board.

The company has an exclusive license from 果冻影院B, 果冻影院鈥檚 commercialisation company, to the enabling ECM patents and other intellectual property. It has raised more than $60 million equity from investors to industrialise its ECM platform and evolve into a drug discovery company.

Engitix鈥檚 strong clinical focus in the area of liver and digestive diseases, including primary neoplasms such as hepatocellular carcinoma and pancreatic cancer, is directed at the rapid identification of therapeutic targets and the development of effective treatments.

By incorporating tissue- and disease-specific human ECM from its extensive biobank of human tissues into听cell-based lab experiments, Engitix鈥檚 platform preserves the natural cell microenvironment offering the unique capability of understanding the bioactive role of human ECM in modulating disease progression in fibrosis and solid tumours. By more accurately predicting disease drivers in human samples including the company鈥檚 proprietary bioinformatic tools, the platform has the potential to accelerate discovery and reduce late-stage clinical failures of candidate drugs.

Dr Gareth Hicks, Head of the GI Drug Discovery Unit at Takeda, said:听鈥淧artnerships are central to our R&D strategy, forming collaborations anchored around novel scientific approaches in disease areas where patients鈥� needs are greatest. Engitix鈥檚 ECM platform will help accelerate the identification and validation of novel targets that will be valuable in our search for better therapies for all those affected by GI and liver diseases.鈥�

Fibrostenosis is intestinal inflammation-driven fibrotic obstruction, most commonly seen in Crohn鈥檚 disease. Some 0.8% of the population of Western high-income countries are estimated to have IBD, with this forecast to rise to over 1% by 2030.听There is no effective cure for IBD and the rates of primary and secondary treatment failure among current therapies is very high. The occurrence of fibrostenosis is not clinically predictable even after apparently successful treatments, and up to 70% of fibrostenotic Crohn鈥檚 disease patients require repeated surgical interventions. There is currently no clinical treatment for intestinal fibrosis in IBDs, so a significant unmet need remains for therapies able to modify the course of the disease.

Links

• 果冻影院 Innovation & Enterprise
• 果冻影院 Institute for Liver & Digestive Health
• 果冻影院 Division of Medicine

Source

Image

• Scanning Electron Microscopy听image of the extraellular matrix. Photo courtesy of Engitix

Media contact听

Chris Lane

tel: +44 20 7679 9222

E: chris.lane听[at] ucl.ac.uk