BMS Licenses Peptidream Technology, Extends Collaboration

PeptiDream said today it agreed to license nonexclusively its Peptide Discovery Platform System (PDPS) technology to Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), as well as to a second extension of a related collaboration-;a nearly three-year-old macrocyclic peptide drug discovery alliance-;with the pharma giant.

The value of the PDPS deal was undisclosed, though PeptiDream said BMS agreed to pay up-front and annual technology access payments as well as potential  additional payments tied to development milestones and royalties on future sales of products arising from PDPS.

"The PDPS technology license was based on the successes achieved during the first three years of our discovery collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb," PeptiDream CEO Kiichi Kubota said in a statement.

That collaboration was launched Oct. 15, 2010, then extended last Oct. 15. On Feb. 15 and again March 15, PeptiDream said it received undisclosed payments for achieving milestones with BMS-;the latter following the identification of a lead compound.

Today, PeptiDream said, it joined BMS in signing a second extension of two years, through October 2015, under which PeptiDream will continue to use PDPS for translational synthesis, selection, and screening of nonstandard macrocyclic peptides for identification as potential drug candidates for BMS targets.

BMS will own all rights to lead peptides and will be responsible for all subsequent research and development as pharmaceutical candidates. In return, PeptiDream will continue to receive from BMS undisclosed research funding; potential payments tied to additional undisclosed development milestones; and royalties on future sales from products developed through the collaboration.

Kubota added that the second extension of PeptiDream's discovery partnership with BMS "will allow both companies to continue our mutual efforts to drive a number of exciting macrocyclic peptide programs into the clinic in both the United States and Japan."

He said the PDPS up-front payment, annual technology access payments, and extended collaboration funding "will significantly contribute to PeptiDream's revenue, starting from this fiscal year," while the potential milestone payments and royalties "offer the possibility of revenues far into the future."

This article was reprinted from Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN) with permission from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN) has retained its position as the number one biotech publisher around the globe since its launch in 1981. GEN publishes a print edition 21 times a year and has additional exclusive editorial content online, like news and analysis as well as blogs, podcasts, webinars, polls, videos, and application notes. GEN's unique news and technology focus includes the entire bioproduct life cycle from early-stage R&D, to applied research including omics, biomarkers, as well as diagnostics, to bioprocessing and commercialization.