UK biotech OMass Therapeutics has revealed its first major pharma partnership, with Roche’s Genentech unit paying $20 million upfront to tap into its expertise and find small-molecule therapies for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).<\/p>\n
The Oxford-based company stands to receive around $400 million in additional payments if the collaboration develops as the partners hope and drug candidates move through preclinical and clinical development and reach the market.<\/p>\n
OMass<\/a> was set up around a drug discovery platform \u2013 called OdyssION \u2013 that uses native mass spectrometry that not only detects drug candidates that bind to a molecular target, but also identifies their functional effects.<\/p>\n The platform combines biochemistry, native mass spectrometry, and custom chemistry to investigate protein interactions within a cellular ecosystem, whilst filtering out the “confounding complexity” of other factors in the cell.<\/p>\n The target for the collaboration has not been specifically identified, but is “first-in-class,” according to the partners.<\/p>\n OMass \u2013 which lists a partnered GPR65 agonist in its pipeline<\/a> \u2013 will lead the initial preclinical development of the programme until a lead candidate has been selected, whereupon Genentech will take over development.<\/p>\n “Using our OdyssION platform, we’ve been able to make significant progress on this novel first-in-class target with a differentiated mechanism of action in inflammatory bowel disease<\/a>,” said Ros Deegan, OMass’ chief executive.<\/p>\n “Genentech brings a strong legacy of innovation in immunology and world-class scientific expertise, making them an ideal partner for this programme,” she added.<\/p>\n