Domain Therapeutics enters into a new collaboration agreement with Pfizer Inc. to profile signaling pathways of GPCRs across multiple diseases
French biotech company will use its bioSens-All™ proprietary technology to correlate impact of GPCR mutations on signaling pathways
Results may constitute guidance for future drug discovery programs
Strasbourg, France, September 1, 2020 – Domain Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the discovery and development of new drugs targeting G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCRs) in immuno-oncology, neurology and rare diseases, announces today the signing of a collaboration agreement with Pfizer Inc. (Pfizer;NYSE:PFE). The collaboration aims to profile downstream signaling pathways of a set of GPCRs potentially involved across multiple therapeutic areas, using Domain’s bioSens-All™ technology consisting of BRET based cellular assays enabling them to investigate native form of GPCRs.
Domain Therapeutics is eligible to receive from Pfizer an upfront payment and research support, as well as potential discovery and clinical milestone payments for future Pfizer programs related to any drug targets that may be identified through this collaboration. Additional financial details were not disclosed.
The profiling may enable Domain Therapeutics and Pfizer to potentially better understand the impact of GPCR point mutations on subsequent signaling events across multiple pathways, and link to disease pathophysiology.
This collaboration builds upon a 2017 collaboration between Domain Therapeutics and Pfizer Inc.
“We are pleased to continue to build upon our previous collaboration with Domain Therapeutics. We believe that Domain’s GPCR technology has the potential to help us identify drug targets across multiple therapeutic areas, including internal medicine, which could, in turn, serve as the basis of potential future breakthrough research projects,” said Morris Birnbaum, Chief Scientific Officer, Internal Medicine, Pfizer Inc.
“We are proud to work alongside Pfizer in this unique approach to deciphering the underlying pathological molecular mechanisms caused by GPCR mutations,” said Pascal Neuville, Chief Executive Officer at Domain Therapeutics. “For Domain, this project is further confirmation of our role as a key player in the field of GPCR target identification.”
About G Protein-Coupled Receptors
GPCRs belong to the family of membrane receptors and constitute one of the main classes of therapeutic targets for many indications. The binding of a hormone or a specific ligand to a receptor’s binding site activates one or several pathways for intracellular signaling. This enables the cell to provide an adapted response to the change in its environment. The drugs that target GPCRs represent about 30% of all treatments on the market, but only address 28% of the GPCRs. Thus, GPCRs remain largely underexploited to date. Domain Therapeutics proposes novel drug candidates for the remaining 70%, thanks to its unique drug discovery engine using technologies such as bioSens-All™.
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