Engitix and Takeda will extend existing agreement to collaborate extensively in the development of therapeutics in IBD
Engitix has entered an agreement with Takeda to expand their existing collaboration. The link up will now include the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for fibrostenotic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.
The companies will collaborate in the confirmation of targets for IBD therapeutics and in the preclinical development of its therapeutics. Takeda will have exclusive rights to develop and commercialise certain clinical candidates generated against validated targets arising from the collaboration.
The companies will also utilise Engitix’s unique extracellular matrix (ECM) discovery platform.
Dr Giuseppe Mazza, co-founder and CEO of Engitix, commented: “ECM 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.”
The discovery platform will enable the companies to understand the role of the human extracellular matrix in controlling disease progression in both fibrosis and solid tumours, Dr Mazza also shared.
Mazza concluded: “By more accurately predicting disease drivers in human samples including our proprietary bioinformatic tools, the platform has the potential to accelerate discovery and reduce late-stage clinical failures.”
Dr Gareth Hicks, head of the GI drug discovery unit at Takeda, also commented: “Partnerships are central to our R&D strategy, forming collaborations anchored around novel scientific approaches in disease areas where patients’ needs are greatest.
“Engitix’s 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,” he added.
Fibrostenosis refers to intestinal inflammation-driven obstruction and is most commonly seen in the Crohn’s disease category of IBD. There is no cure for IBD and it has a high rate of primary and secondary treatment failure in current therapies.
