Astellas Pharma Inc. and PeptiDream Inc. announced a research collaboration and license agreement to discover novel protein degraders for two targets selected by Astellas. Under the agreement between the two companies, Astellas will have the option to select up to three additional targets to be included in the collaboration. Astellas focuses on targeted protein degraders directed to undruggable targets that are difficult to approach with conventional technologies.

Under the terms of the agreement, the companies plan to combine PeptiDream's PDPS (Peptide Discovery Platform System) technology with Astellas' drug discovery capabilities to discover multiple next-generation protein degraders targeting diverse targets that go beyond existing technologies. Astellas will be responsible for the development and commercialization of products created from this collaborative research. Astellas will provide PeptiDream with an upfront payment of JPY 3.0 billion.

PeptiDream is eligible to receive discovery, development and commercial sales milestones of up to JPY 20.6 billion per target. PeptiDream is also eligible to receive single-digit % royalty payments on net sales of any products arising from the collaboration. PeptiDream's proprietary drug discovery and development platform that can generate highly diverse peptide libraries and efficiently identify promising macrocyclic peptides with high affinity and selectivity for a given target from the library.

Astellas has established a Focus Area Approach for its research and development strategy.