PeptiDream Announces Collaboration and License Agreement with MSD for the Discovery and Development of Novel Peptide Drug Conjugates

KANAGAWA, Japan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PeptiDream Inc., a public Kanagawa, Japan-based biopharmaceutical company (President: Patrick C. Reid, hereinafter “PeptiDream”) (Tokyo: 4587) today announced a new multi-target collaboration and license Agreement with U.S.-based Merck & Co, Inc., Rahway, N.J., U.S.A., known as “MSD” outside the U.S. and Canada, through a subsidiary, focused on the discovery and development of novel peptide drug conjugates (“PDCs”).

Under the agreement, PeptiDream will provide peptide candidates identified from PeptiDream’s proprietary Peptide Discovery Platform System (“PDPS”) technology for use as PDCs against targets of interest to MSD. MSD will have exclusive rights to the peptide candidates for conjugation to cytotoxic payloads and will be responsible for all development aspects of any PDC products arising from the collaboration.

The new collaboration and license agreement builds upon the long collaborative relationship between the companies, which started with a multi-target discovery and optimization collaboration in April 2015.

Under the terms of the agreement, PeptiDream will receive an upfront payment from MSD and be eligible for payments based on the achievement of specified development, regulatory, and commercial milestones potentially totaling up to $2.1 billion (¥275billion (1USD = 131JPY)). In addition, PeptiDream is eligible to receive royalties on net sales of any such products.

“I am excited to announce this collaboration with MSD for the discovery and development of peptide drug conjugates, to further expand on our pipeline of innovative PDC therapeutics. We look forward to continuing to work with the excellent team at MSD as we build on years of collaboration.” said Patrick C. Reid PhD, President & CEO of PeptiDream.

About PeptiDream Inc.
PeptiDream Inc. (Tokyo Stock Exchange Prime Market 4587) is leading the translation of macrocyclic peptides into a whole new class of innovative medicines to address unmet medical needs and improve the quality of life of patients worldwide. Founded in 2006, PeptiDream employs its proprietary Peptide Discovery Platform System (PDPS) technology, a state-of-the-art highly versatile discovery platform which enables the production of highly diverse (trillions) non-standard peptide libraries with high efficiency, for the identification of highly potent and selective macrocyclic peptide candidates, which then can be developed into peptide-based, small molecule-based, or peptide-drug conjugate (PDC)-based therapeutics and diagnostics. PeptiDream has an extensive global network of discovery and development partners driving the development and commercialization of a broad and diversified pipeline of investigational therapeutics. PeptiDream also markets and sells a number of radiopharmaceutical and radiodiagnostic products in Japan, through its wholly owned subsidiary, PDRadiopharma. PeptiDream is headquartered in Kawasaki, Japan. For more information about our company, science and pipeline, please visit www.peptidream.com.