BridGene Biosciences, a US-based biotechnology company focused on small molecule drug discovery, has expanded its strategic collaboration and licensing agreement with Galapagos.
Galapagos is a Belgian biotech company that develops drugs against rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, systemic lupus erythematosus and cystic fibrosis.
In January this year, the two companies initially partnered for the discovery of a highly selective oral SMARCA2 small molecule proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC).
Under the expanded collaboration, BridGene will use its PROTAC discovery engine and Galapagos its expertise in selective ATPase small molecules, to advance the small molecule into a preclinical candidate.
Galapagos will have exclusive rights to further develop and commercialise the potential candidate.
Under the terms of the agreement, Galapagos will pay BridGene a total of $159m, including upfront and preclinical milestone payments, and additional milestone payments.
BridGene will also receive tiered royalties on net sales of each product from the collaboration.
BridGene Biosciences co-founder and CEO Ping Cao said: “We are excited to deepen our collaboration with Galapagos to discover new drugs targeting critical and challenging oncology targets.
“The depth of Galapagos’ scientific expertise in oncology aligns perfectly with our capabilities. This collaboration will further reinforce our strong track record in identifying drugs for difficult targets.
“We aim to create partnerships that significantly boost the likelihood of success by integrating our innovative discovery platform with the wide-ranging scientific and clinical expertise of partners like Galapagos.”
BridGene is a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing innovative small molecules that drug traditionally undruggable targets, providing new paths to treat diseases.
The company said the expanded collaboration validates its approach to advancing drug development efforts through strategic partnerships.
Both BridGene and Galapagos aim to develop potential precision medicines that tackle challenging targets in cancer to improve patient outcomes.
Furthermore, the two companies focus on addressing high unmet medical needs through targeted protein degradation technology, said the US biotechnology company.
Galapagos senior vice president and small molecules discovery head Pierre Raboisson said: “We are pleased to expand our partnership with BridGene Biosciences, a company which has a strong track record in small molecule drug discovery for hard-to-drug targets.
“Our expanded collaboration leverages the unique strengths of both companies and allows us to combine our in-house expertise and technological platforms with BridGene’s cutting-edge PROTAC discovery engine to develop precision medicines for cancer patients with critical unmet needs.”
