Protagonist and Ironwood expand drug discovery collaboration

The research collaboration between Protagonist and Ironwood is being expanded after making 'remarkable' progress.

Protagonist Therapeutics and Ironwood Pharmaceuticals have expanded a research collaboration focused on the discovery of novel peptide drug candidates.

First announced in January 2011, the collaboration utilises Protagonist's proprietary disulphide-rich peptide (DRP) technology platform to discover novel peptides against targets where medical needs are not being met.

Researchers from both companies are involved, with US company Ironwood funding Protagonist scientists for the duration of the relationship.

Any drug candidates that result from the partnership will be advanced through preclinical and clinical development by Ironwood, with Protagonist eligible for certain milestone payments and royalties on any product sales.

Dr Dinesh Patel, president and chief executive officer at Protagonist, which is a spin-out of the University of Queensland's Institute of Molecular Biosciences, said: "Our joint effort has made remarkable progress since the collaboration was initiated in January 2011

"The expansion of this relationship is a strong validation of Protagonist's DRP technology platform and its ability to identify novel drug candidates for targets and diseases where conventional small molecule or biologic options may not meet existing needs."

Dr Todd Milne, vice president of biology at Ironwood, added that he is "pleased" to be expanding the collaboration.