UK's Heptares in CNS deal with Takeda worth potential 65 million

Closely-held UK-based drug discovery firm Heptares Therapeutics has entered a two-year drug discovery collaboration with Japan's largest drugmaker, Takeda Pharmaceutical (TSE: 4502) focused on a single G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) that plays an important role in the pathology of central nervous system disorders.

Under the terms of the accord, Takeda receives worldwide commercial rights to new drugs emerging from the collaboration. Upon signing, Heptares received an upfront payment of 1.7 million ($2.8 million) and an investment in an equity stake of about 2.8 million purchased by Takeda Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Takeda. Heptares is also eligible to receive future milestone payments of up to 60.5 million plus royalties on product sales. Further terms of the agreement are not being disclosed.

This GPCR has proved intractable using historical drug discovery efforts, due to its instability when removed from cell membranes and the resulting lack of insight into its structure. A new medicine targeting this GPCR would be first-in-class.