MedImmune and NGM Biopharmaceuticals collaborate to develop therapies for diabetes and obesity
They will be developed from NGM’s enteroendocrine cell (EEC) programme
AstraZeneca’s global biologics research and development arm MedImmune has entered into an exclusive agreement with NGM Biopharmaceuticals to develop and commercialise novel therapeutics from NGM’s enteroendocrine cell (EEC) programme for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity.
EECs represent less than 1% of all gastrointestinal (GI) cells, but produce virtually all of the known GI hormones, including GLP-1. They are said to be an under-explored source of novel hormones that could play a major role in the positive and negative regulation of metabolism and glucose homeostasis.
NGM, a privately held drug discovery company based in South San Francisco, CA, US, has established a proprietary platform capable of isolating and analysing EECs to identify novel secreted peptide hormones that serve as potential targets for the treatment of metabolic diseases.
MedImmune and NGM will jointly advance peptide and antibody drug candidates based on the discovered EEC hormones. MedImmune will have the option to license in these EEC targets, and will be responsible for the global development, manufacture and commercialisation of compounds resulting from the collaboration.
‘We believe that hormones found in the gastrointestinal tract can play an important role in resolving diabetes after bariatric surgery. Through NGM’s innovative research in metabolic disease, we believe our collaboration could lead to potential innovative medicines for diabetes and obesity,’ said Cristina Rondinone, Head of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Innovative Medicines Unit, MedImmune.
Under the terms of the agreement, MedImmune will make an upfront payment and provide NGM with research funding over the course of the collaboration. If certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones are achieved NGM will be entitled to payments and royalties on worldwide product sales. No further details have been revealed.
