Global pharma and life sciences major Bayer and domestic drug discovery firm Curadev have signed a research collaboration and licence agreement to discover new drug candidates for treatment of lung, cardiovascular and inflammatory diseases, the companies said on Monday.
The agreement is for Curadev's stimulator of interferon genes (STING) antagonist programme.
"The collaboration aims to discover new drug candidates for the treatment of lung diseases, cardiovascular diseases and other inflammatory diseases", the companies said in a joint statement.
STING antagonists offer tremendous potential for new treatments as it is known to play a role in activating the innate immune system in auto-inflammatory diseases, it added.
"In line with our strategy, we continue to deepen our understanding of pathology in disease areas with high unmet medical need and further strengthen our research activities on mechanisms with broader potential, rather than individual indications," Member of the Executive Committee of Bayer AG's Pharmaceuticals Division and Head of Research and Development Joerg Moeller said.
Bayer is continuously looking for new breakthroughs to improve patients' lives and Curadev's deep experience working on the STING pathway make them ideal partners, he added.
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As part of the agreement, Bayer will gain exclusive access to novel molecules from Curadev that are designed to inhibit the STING pathway, the statement said.
The companies will collaborate to optimise and advance these molecules, as well as others generated during the collaboration, into clinical development. it added.
"Curadev identified STING as a versatile target where both agonists and antagonists can play an important role in diverse disease conditions," Curadev Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer Arjun Surya said.
Under the terms of the agreement, Curadev will receive an upfront payment, the statement said.
In addition, Curadev will receive research funding during the research term and might be eligible for pre-clinical, clinical and sales milestones of potentially over EUR 250 million as well as royalties of single-digit percentages of net sales, it added.