BRIEF—Mitsubishi Tanabe hunts new ALS candidates in Japanese collaboration

Japanese firms Mitsubishi Tanabe, Order-made Medical Research (OMR) and Trans Chromosomics have entered into a strategic collaboration for the development of an antibody drug to treat neurodegenerative diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

This deal is based on a target molecule related to the progression of ALS that OMR and Trans Chromosomics discovered together.

Mitsibishi Tanabe, which recently won approval in the USA for the first new ALS therapy in 22 years, Radicava (edaravone), will be responsible for the pre-clinical research needed to evaluate the candidates produced in the collaboration.

Radicava is marketed in Japan as Radicut, and was approved there in 2015.