December 2021 "Tokyo, Japan and Cambridge, UK, 24 December 2021 – Sosei Group Corporation (“Sosei Heptares”; TSE: 4565) today announces that in connection with the Collaboration and License Agreement (“License Agreement”) with Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (“Neurocrine Biosciences”) announced 22 November 2021, the applicable waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (“HSR Act”) expired on 22 December 2021. As such, the License Agreement became effective on 22 December 2021. With completion of the applicable waiting period under the HSR Act, under the terms of the License Agreement Neurocrine Biosciences has agreed to pay Sosei Heptares an upfront payment of US$100 million, with the amount to be recognized as revenue in the fourth quarter of the financial year ending December 31, 2021." Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

December 2021 "Meet Peter McNamara, Ph.D., Tectonic’s SVP, Head of Research. Peter joined Tectonic to help chart new territory in GPCR science. We’re glad to have Peter's dedication, experience, and passion in building innovative therapeutics." Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

January 2022 "OXFORD, England--Professor Charlotte Deane, Ph.D., of the University of Oxford, has joined Exscientia as Chief Scientist of Biologics AI. In this newly created role, she will focus on the application of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and the design of protein structures in the discovery and development of novel drug candidates. Professor Deane joins Exscientia’s technology leadership team, reporting to Chief Technology Officer, Garry Pairaudeau. Professor Deane is one of the UK’s most accomplished bioinformaticians. She has held numerous senior roles at the University of Oxford, where she is currently Professor of Structural Bioinformatics and leads the University’s Protein Informatics group. She will maintain both of these roles, in addition to her role at Exscientia. Prior to this, Professor Deane was Deputy Executive Chair of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). She has played an active role during the COVID-19 pandemic as the UKRI’s COVID Response Director, and was a member of SAGE, the UK Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies. Professor Deane holds a B.A. in Chemistry from the University of Oxford and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Cambridge." Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

January 2022 "G-protein-coupled receptors’ star has been on the rise in biotech in recent years as researchers have discovered the vast potential for GPCR-targeting drugs in treating a range of health conditions, from cancer and genetic disorders to inflammation and metabolic imbalances. Among those hitching their wagons to that star are Verily and Sosei Heptares, which have struck a research agreement to discover new GPCR targets that’ll fuel the development of potential drug candidates. The financial details of the strategic collaboration weren’t released, but Sosei Heptares’ past two team-ups in GPCR-based drug discovery have clocked in at $1 billion—with Genentech—and, just last November, $2.6 billion in a partnership with Neurocrine." Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

January 2022 "The Neurocrine Biosciences story puts into words what makes the work and people at Neurocrine Biosciences so special. It captures our values and vision for the future, our culture, and our unique approach to science. Simply put, it represents what we do and why we do it. Hear the story from our colleagues in this video." Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

January 2022 ChemoCentryx Announces EU Approval of TAVNEOS® (avacopan) for the Treatment of ANCA-Associated Vasculitis "SAN CARLOS, Calif., Jan. 19, 2022, today announced that TAVNEOS® (avacopan) has been approved within the European Union in combination with a rituximab or cyclophosphamide regimen for the treatment of adult patients with severe, active granulomatosis polyangiitis (GPA) or microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), the two main forms of ANCA-associated vasculitis. This approval follows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of TAVNEOS in October 2021. TAVNEOS will receive marketing authorization in all member states of the European Union, as well as in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway." Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

January 2022 "After securing FDA approval for Wegovy last year, Novo Nordisk is strengthening its position in the obesity space through a collaboration with EraCal Therapeutics. Under the joint research plan, the Danish giant will work with EraCal to identify novel drug targets relevant for food intake regulation and additional metabolic phenotypes. Although specific details of the collaboration are yet to be released, EraCal has confirmed that the duo will utilise its phenotypic drug discovery platform to identify potential targets." Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

February 2022 Septerna emerges with $100M to spark 'second golden age' of prolific drug target GPCR with pioneer as co-founder "Jan 27, 2022 07:00am Septerna wants to spark a second golden age in G-protein-coupled receptor drug discovery. Better known as GPCR, the fruitful research space has led to more than 700 approved drugs over previous decades—but the two-year-old biotech believes the area is still ripe for development, and it now has $100 million to help power its efforts. The company's co-founder, GPCR pioneer and Nobel laureate Robert Lefkowitz, M.D., has 50 years of experience with the target and analogizes the search for new drugs to oil drilling around the world." Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

February 2022 "InterAx Biotech AG and Boehringer Ingelheim take first steps towards collaborating to unlock orphan targets leveraging InterAx AI driven discovery platform. Collaborative efforts aim to accelerate and improve the prediction of first-in-class small molecule agonists for a challenging orphan GPCR for a highly relevant therapeutic need. 💊 InterAx Biotech AG discovery platform was already successfully applied in projects with biopharmaceutical companies and also used in-house to discover first-in-class compounds for a novel oncology target that are now being tested in-vivo. #ai #biotech #systemsbiology #drugdiscovery #gpcr #deeptech #orphandrugs #pharma #partnerships #AI4drugdiscovery" Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

February 2022 "Ermium Therapeutics Announces the Formation of a Scientific Advisory Board comprising international leaders in GPCRs pharmacology, immunology, drug discovery and development for auto-immune diseases" Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

March 2022 ERNEST has established an Emergency Fund for Ukrainian researchers. "General Eligibility Researchers affiliated to any legal entity in Ukraine (for example, schools and universities, research centers, governmental institutions, or private companies) Deadlines Start of the project: now End of the project: 31 October 2022 SHORT-TERM SCIENTIFIC MISSIONS (STSM) We offer short-term scientific mission grants to Ukrainian researchers who have been recently displaced by the war, or those who can travel to institutions participating in ERNEST COST Action. The purpose of the STSM is to carry out a collaborative research project on topics relevant to the network. Our scientific perspective is broad, and we are happy to consider any research proposals from those in need." Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

March 2022 "Geneva, Switzerland, March 7, 2022 – Addex Therapeutics (SIX: ADXN, Nasdaq: ADXN), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company pioneering allosteric modulation-based drug discovery and development, announced today that it will issue its full-year 2021 financial results on Thursday, March 10, 2022. Tim Dyer, CEO, Roger Mills, CMO and Robert Lütjens, Head of Discovery Biology, will provide a business update and review its pipeline during a teleconference and webcast for investors, analysts and media at 16:00 CET (15:00 GMT / 10:00 EST / 07:00 PST) the same day. " Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

March 2022 "February 17, 2022 08:00 AM Eastern Standard Time SAN FRANCISCO & SHANGHAI- ShouTi Inc., a clinical-stage global biopharmaceutical company developing novel oral therapeutics to treat a wide range of chronic diseases, today introduced Basecamp Bio, a wholly owned subsidiary dedicated to fueling ShouTi’s pipeline and pursuing drug discovery partnerships." Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

April 2022 Ono Enters into Collaboration Agreement with Domain Therapeutics and Université de Montréal for GPCR-Targeted Drug Discovery "Apr.19.2022 Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Osaka, Japan; President and CEO: Gyo Sagara; “Ono”) today announced that it has newly signed a collaboration agreement with Domain Therapeutics S.A. (Strasbourg, France; CEO: Pascal Neuville; “Domain”) and Université de Montréal (Québec, Canada; “UdM”), to discover novel small molecules targeting G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs) in a metabolic disease area." Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

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July 2022 "Orion Biotechnology and Peptilogics are pursuing AI-driven drug discovery to explore new functional chemical space and precision-engineer therapeutics with enhanced potency and tailored signaling against an undrugged GPCR target. #ai #drugdiscovery #gpcr" Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

March 2022 "March 3, 2022 Susanna Naggie, MD, and Sudarshan Rajagopal, MD, PhD Two School of Medicine faculty members — Susanna Naggie, MD, and Sudarshan Rajagopal, MD, PhD — have been elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI). Naggie and Rajagopal are two of 95 new members elected to the society for 2022. They will be officially inducted at a joint meeting of ASCI, the Association of American Physicians (AAP), and the American Physician-Scientists Association (APSA) on April 8, 2022. " Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

December 2021 "Drug development is rarely trivial. In fact, it is often costly, frustrating, and tortuous—and more often than not it ends in failure. The sheer complexity of the cell and the astonishing diversity of diseases are just two reasons why researchers typically require years to uncover the mechanisms of disease before they can even dare to contemplate the development of therapeutic options and begin the long, arduous road to the clinic. Drugs that do make it to clinical trials have major hurdles to clear—not the least of which is safety testing. It is necessary for drugs to evaluated for potential toxicities and side effects, and these key factors must be deemed tolerable before investigators can assess drug potency. For example, chemotherapy, a powerful standard approach to kill fast-growing cancer cells, has the drawback of causing damage to healthy cells in the process, leading to side effects that can include pain, nausea, and hair loss. Nevertheless, researchers have a host of new technologies at their disposal to develop targeted therapies that minimize side effects. Modern drug development approaches include a range of techniques leveraging structural biology, immunology, cell signaling, and more to address the challenge. As this article shows, progress is being made on multiple fronts." Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

January 2022 Inversago Pharma Completes Phase 1 Clinical Trial on First-in-Class, Peripheral CB1 Blocker and Provides Strategy Update "Company has completed the Phase 1 Clinical Trial for its INV-202 molecule Encouraging Phase 1 results and supportive preclinical package assist in the launch of Phase 2 clinical development Metabolic disorders are a global epidemic1 MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Inversago Pharma Inc. (“Inversago”), the peripheral CB1 blockade company, announced today the successful completion of the Phase 1 Clinical Trial for its INV-202 molecule that focuses on treating metabolic disorder complications. Favorable safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetic results from the trial warrant further investigation, and the Company will actively pursue the advancement of INV-202 into later-stage clinical trials." Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

January 2022 "Voltaire argued, “Perfection is attained by slow degrees; it requires the hand of time.” However, in drug discovery projects, perfection can’t be attained soon enough. A project to develop a perfect drug, or a drug that is as safe and effective as possible, may never begin if it can’t be completed quickly. Such predicaments must have been familiar to the philosopher. After all, he also complained that the perfect is the enemy of the good. If only Voltaire were here today to see how drug discovery is being accelerated by new technologies. He might reverse himself and declare that the perfect can in fact be the friend of the good. Several new technologies that are being used to accelerate drug discovery are highlighted in this article. They include small molecules that conditionally modulate proteins in their functional state; three-dimensional (3D) cell models, or organoid models, that assist with target identification, high-throughput drug screening, drug efficacy analyses, and toxicity studies; technologies that stabilize G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) to enable the discovery of agonistic biologics; and automated instrumentation that enables the overnight synthesis of mRNA." Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

August 2022 "The atypical chemokine receptor 1 (ACKR1) was discovered on erythrocytes as the Duffy blood group antigen ( Cutbush et al., 1950 ), also called Duffy-antigen/receptor for chemokines, or DARC ( Novitzky-Basso and Rot, 2012 ). Erythrocytes are terminally differentiated anuclear cells with no transcription and limited translation. Accordingly, within the erythroid lineage ACKR1 expression occurs first and is the highest in erythroblasts ( Duchene et al., 2017 ). Additionally, ACKR1 expression characterizes venular endothelial cells (ECs) ( Pruenster et al., 2009 ; Thiriot et al., 2017 ), including those lining bone marrow (BM) sinusoids ( Duchene et al., 2017 ). This well-established, distinctive pattern of cell expression has been directly challenged by a publication purporting ACKR1 expression in mouse BM by macrophages, but not erythroblasts and ECs, suggesting that macrophage ACKR1 engages its non-cognate ligand CD82 on hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) to maintain their quiescence ( Hur et al., 2016 ). In light of the extensive literature, these findings have been particularly provocative, as this was the first description of ACKR1 expression by any leukocyte type and, if correct, would change current concepts of ACKR1 involvement in pathophysiology. The reported ACKR1 expression by macrophages in Hur et al. relied on using commercial anti-ACKR1 antibody FAB6695, which has neither been validated by the manufacturer nor by the authors. This prompted us to investigate the specificity of FAB6695 and scrutinize the apparent ACKR1 expression in BM macrophages" Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

August 2022 "GPCRs in Medicinal Chemistry Event 8th RSC / SCI symposium on GPCRs in Medicinal Chemistry Dates Wednesday-Friday, 5th-7th October 2022 Place Evotec Campus Levi-Montalcini, Verona, Italy Downloads and Links Registration closing dates: 6th September – registration against invoice (bank transfers): Tuesday, 6th September 30th September – online registration (card payments)" Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

August 2022 Structure Therapeutics Extends Financing, Advances Diabetes and Obesity Clinical Program and Changes Name from ShouTi "San Francisco and Shanghai – August 1, 2022 – Structure Therapeutics Inc. (Structure Therapeutics), formerly known as ShouTi Inc., today announced it closed an oversubscribed $33 million financing round, extending its $100 million Series B financing, which was announced in October 2021. In addition, Structure Therapeutics has completed dosing in a single ascending dose (SAD) Phase 1 study of its lead type 2 diabetes and obesity program, GSBR-1290." Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

August 2022 "Despite the importance of members of the GPCR superfamily as targets of a broad range of effective medicines many GPCRs remain poorly characterised. GPR84 is an example. Expression of GPR84 is strongly up regulated in immune cells in a range of pro-inflammatory settings and clinical trials to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis are currently ongoing using ligands with differing levels of selectivity and affinity as GPR84 antagonists. Although blockade of GPR84 may potentially prove effective also in diseases associated with inflammation of the lower gut there is emerging interest in defining if agonists of GPR84 might find utility in conditions in which regulation of metabolism or energy sensing is compromised. Here, we consider the physiological and pathological expression profile of GPR84 and, in the absence of direct structural information, recent developments and use of GPR84 pharmacological tool compounds to study its broader role and biology. " Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

August 2022 "August 12, 2022.- Jan Steyaert, scientific director of the VIB-VUB Center for Structural Biology, Vlaams Instituut Biotechnologie, at the Vrije Universiteit Brusle, Brussels, Belgium, has been named the winner of Brandeis’ 24th Jacob and Louise Gabbay Award in Biotechnology and Medicine. Jan Steyaert will be presented with the Gabbay Award at Brandeis University on October 27 when he will give a public lecture on his work, followed by a ceremony. This award recognizes the combination of Steyaert’s fundamental research and his ability to apply the research to the development of therapeutic technologies. Steyaert bridged fundamental high-impact research in biomedical sciences with the mechanistic understanding of one of the biggest classes of pharmaceutical targets by combining structural biology and advanced biotechnology." Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

August 2022 "THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. and SAN CARLOS, Calif., Aug. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) and ChemoCentryx, Inc., (NASDAQ: CCXI), a biopharmaceutical company focused on orally administered therapeutics to treat autoimmune diseases, inflammatory disorders and cancer, today announced that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement under which Amgen will acquire ChemoCentryx for $52 per share in cash, representing an enterprise value of approximately $3.7 billion." Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

August 2022 Addex and Indivior Extend GABAB Positive Allosteric Modulator Research Collaboration for Substance Use Disorders "Geneva, Switzerland, August 15, 2022 - Addex Therapeutics (SIX and Nasdaq: ADXN), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company pioneering allosteric modulation-based drug discovery and development, today announced that its collaboration agreement with Indivior PLC (LON: INDV) for discovering and developing novel oral gamma-aminobutyric acid subtype B (GABAB) positive allosteric modulator (PAM) drug candidates has been extended until March 31, 2023. As part of the amended agreement, Indivior will provide Addex with CHF 850,000 (approx. US $900,000) of additional research funding. The reserved indications, where Addex retains exclusive rights to develop its own independent GABAB PAM program, have also been expanded to include chronic cough, in addition to the rights to develop certain retained compounds for Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 1A neuropathy (CMT1A) and pain. " Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

August 2022 "Geneva, Switzerland, August 18, 2022 - Addex Therapeutics (SIX and Nasdaq: ADXN), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company pioneering allosteric modulation-based drug discovery and development, today reported its half-year and second quarter financial results for the periods ended June 30, 2022 and provided a corporate update. “The recent financing from Armistice Capital and the extension of our strategic collaboration with Indivior have set us on a solid path to execute on our strategic priorities, including pursuing additional collaborations across our portfolio,” said Tim Dyer, CEO of Addex. “In addition, we are looking forward to the data read-out from the ADX71149 epilepsy Phase 2 study in Q1 2023 and continue to evaluate the path forward for dipraglurant in a number of interesting disease areas in parallel to discussions with potential strategic partners.”" Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

August 2022 "August 10, 2022 Cancer Research UK is working with global biopharma Sosei Heptares on a treatment they hope will bring immunotherapy benefits to new cancer types. Jonah Comstock delves into what makes this team-up tick. Cancer Research UK, a charity dedicated to funding lifesaving oncology research, spent £388 million on cancer research last fiscal year. Much of that funding is distributed to support third party research, but the group also does its own research into promising therapy areas, working with partners who have a good idea but don’t have all the necessary tools to drive it forward." Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews

August 2022 Karuna Therapeutics Announces Positive Results from Phase 3 EMERGENT-2 Trial of KarXT in Schizophrenia "BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 8, 2022-- Karuna Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: KRTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company driven to create and deliver transformative medicines for people living with psychiatric and neurological conditions, today announced positive topline results from its Phase 3 EMERGENT-2 trial evaluating the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of its lead investigational therapy, KarXT (xanomeline-trospium), in adults with schizophrenia. The trial met its primary endpoint, with KarXT demonstrating a statistically significant and clinically meaningful 9.6-point reduction in the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) total score compared to placebo (-21.2 KarXT vs. -11.6 placebo, p<0.0001) at Week 5 (Cohen’s d effect size of 0.61). KarXT also demonstrated an early and sustained statistically significant reduction of symptoms, as assessed by PANSS total score, starting at Week 2 and maintained such reduction through all timepoints in the trial." Read more at the source #DrGPCR #GPCR #IndustryNews