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Agreements

Date: 2017-12-19

Type of information: Research agreement

Compound: small molecule agonists of an undisclosed G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR)

Company: Confo Therapeutics (Belgium) Roche (Switzerland)

Therapeutic area: Neurological diseases - Developmental diseases

Type agreement: research - licensing - commercialisation

Action mechanism:

  • GPCR agonist. G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs), seven-transmembrane domain receptors, constitute a large protein family of proteins that sense molecules outside the cell and activate inside signal transduction pathways and cellular responses. Confo Therapeutics is a VUB-VIB spin-off co-founded in 2015 by VIB and Capricorn Venture Partners with the support of MINTS, PMV, QBIC and V-Bio Ventures. This drug discovery company has built  a portfolio of first-in-class programs based on its proprietary Confo® technology, using antibody fragments or “Confobodies” to lock inherently unstable functional conformations of GPCRs as a superior starting point for drug discovery.

Disease:

Details:

  • • On December 19, 2017, Confo Therapeutics announced that it has entered into a research collaboration and license agreement with Roche for the discovery, development and commercialisation of novel, small molecule agonists of an undisclosed G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) for the treatment of neurological and developmental disorders. Under the terms of the agreement, Roche gains exclusive rights to the compounds resulting from the collaboration and will be responsible for their development, manufacturing and commercialisation.

Financial terms:

  • The financial terms include an upfront payment, pre-clinical milestones and research funding to Confo Therapeutics totaling €6 million over the initial 30 months period of the collaboration. In addition, Confo Therapeutics is eligible to receive up to €81.5 million of payments for certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones, plus tiered royalties on the annual net sales of any products resulting from the collaboration.

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