Axcelead Drug Discovery Partners has signed a drug discovery service agreement with Astellas Pharma to explore new candidate compounds for targeted protein degraders.

Axcelead DDP focuses on targeted protein degradation as the next generation of small-molecule drug discovery and provides an integrated service solution called DegLead Platform to solve various challenges in targeted protein degrader discovery, including synthetic technologies for rapid generation of targeted protein degraders, compound libraries, diverse high-throughput screening systems and profiling assay systems.

Under the agreement, Axcelead DDP will support Astellas’ targeted protein degrader discovery utilizing DegLeadTM Platform and contribute to the generation of breakthrough new drug candidate compounds.

“We are pleased to conclude this agreement with Astellas based on their positive evaluation of our core technology – the integrated DegLeadTM Platform solution. This agreement is evidence that our drug discovery solution for targeted protein degrader is a promising service that provides proprietary value to our clients. We continue to support our clients' drug discovery by continuously evolving our pharmaceutical company-derived drug discovery platform by incorporating cutting-edge technologies,” said Kengo Okada, PhD, Representative Director and CEO of Axcelead DDP.

Axcelead DDP is Japan’s first drug discovery solution provider established in July 2017 by inheriting the drug discovery platform from Takeda Pharmaceutical. Screening, medicinal chemistry, pharmacology/biology, DMPK, and safety research functions are integrated into one center with a state-of-the-art research base and original compound library. Together with the most advanced AI capability integration to Axcelead DDP’s service, Axcelead DDP creates high quality drug candidates rapidly.