Takeda in schizophrenia research pact with Envoy Therapeutics

Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical Company has said that it has entered into a three-year research alliance with Envoy Therapeutics Inc, a recently formed drug discovery company, aimed at discovering drugs for schizophrenia that will have greater efficacy and safety compared to current therapies.

Under the terms of the agreement, Takeda will make a $3 million upfront payment as well as providing $2.25 million per year in research funding and fees. In addition, Envoy will receive potential progress-dependent milestone payments and royalties should one or more compounds advance to clinical development and commercialization.

Using its proprietary bacTRAP technology, Envoy's scientists will identify proteins that are selectively expressed in specific cell types within the brain that are known to be affected in patients with schizophrenia. Scientists at the two companies will then work together to evaluate and select those proteins that hold the greatest potential for therapeutic modulation.

Developed at Rockefeller University, with its roots in the government funded Gene Expression Nervous System ATlas (GENSAT) project, Envoy's ''bacTRAP'' technology combines innovative genetic engineering with new molecular biology techniques for labeling and extracting the protein-making components of specific types of cells.

The technology allows scientists to identify new drug targets by measuring the in vivo expression of translated genes in specific, medically relevant cell types among the many intermingled cell types present in the central nervous system without requiring the isolation of cells.
Takeda's corporate venture arm, Takeda Research Investment, Inc., invested in Envoy's first financing in October 2009, consistent with the group's goal to nurture external innovation and help Takeda build on its heritage of innovative drug discovery.

''Using our research sites in the UK, Singapore and Japan, this collaboration with Envoy offers the potential for Takeda to develop entirely new classes of therapeutics to treat the devastating effects of schizophrenia where there is a high unmet need for patients,'' said Shigenori Ohkawa, a member of the board and executive vice president, chief scientific officer of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. ''The novel drug targets we will identify and pursue are a key focus of Takeda's stated mission of contributing to the health of patients worldwide.''