AstraZeneca in licensing deal for MALT1 inhibitors; closes Bangalore R&D site

Belgium-based VIB, a non-profit research institute in life sciences, and the Center for Drug Design and Discovery (CD3), a technology transfer platform and investment fund, have signed a license and collaboration agreement with Anglo-Swedish pharma major AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN) for the development of novel MALT1 inhibitors as therapeutics in inflammatory and oncological diseases.

Under the terms of the deal, AstraZeneca will make an upfront payment and milestones based on the achievement of development and regulatory goals. VIB and CD3 (KU Leuven) are eligible to receive royalty payments on future products developed under the agreement.

The research teams of Thijs Baens and Peter Marynen (VIB-KU Leuven, Center for Human Genetics) and Rudi Beyaert (VIB-UGent, Inflammation Research Center) were among the first to identify MALT1, an important regulator of the NF-κB signaling pathway and demonstrate its proteolytic activity on some key substrates. Since then, the proteolytic activity of MALT1 has emerged as a promising target for treatment of auto-immune disorders and certain types of cancer. VIB and CD3 launched a joint early drug discovery collaboration to identify small molecule MALT1 protease inhibitors, which now results in a license to AstraZeneca.