Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd and Paris-headquartered Enterome Bioscience SA have entered into a strategic drug discovery collaboration to research and develop potential new therapeutics directed at microbiome targets thought to play crucial roles in gastrointestinal disorders, including inflammatory bowel diseases (e.g. ulcerative colitis) and motility disorders (e.g. irritable bowel syndrome).

"This strategic collaboration with Takeda is a significant achievement for Enterome and represents an important step towards realizing the full potential of our expertise and unique capabilities in unlocking the microbiome to generate new therapeutic solutions to serious diseases," commented Pierre Belichard, CEO of Enterome. "We are delighted to begin this new collaboration, which will combine our continuing leadership in the microbiome space and Takeda's global therapeutic drug discovery and development capabilities. It is also an important step for Enterome towards achieving its ambition to become a leading global biopharmaceutical company in the microbiome space."

"At Takeda, innovation is at the core of our efforts to bring new therapies to patients in the future," said Gareth Hicks, Head of gastroenterology drug discovery for Takeda. "In partnering with scientists at Enterome, who perform cutting-edge research into microbiome-derived agents, Takeda is able to explore this exciting science and bring innovative therapies forward."

Enterome will use its proprietary metagenomic platform to support the discovery of potential novel agents (small molecules or biologics) derived from gut bacteria and directed to the GI targets selected by Enterome and Takeda. Takeda has an option to license selected agents on an exclusive global basis and will be responsible for their regulatory and clinical development as well as their commercialization.

Enterome will receive an upfront payment and 3-year R&D funding, and is eligible to receive additional payments for each molecule discovered through the collaboration in the form of option exercise, development, regulatory and commercial milestone payments. In addition, Enterome is eligible to receive potential tiered royalties on the net sales of any products that are commercialized by Takeda.