Seeking Proteases as Inhibitory Targets for Disease Treatment

Daiichi Sankyo, a global pharmaceutical company, is seeking research related to the identification and mechanistic characterization of extracellular proteases whose inhibition suppresses disease onset or progression. 

Approaches of Interest:

• Opportunities related to immune, cardiometabolic or ophthalmic disorders are of highest priority 
• Systemic inhibition of the protease is anticipated to carry little to no toxicity, though this does not apply to protease inhibition for ophthalmic diseases
• The contribution of the protease to the disease pathology should have been validated by in vivo or ex vivo experiments involving knockout (KO) or knockdown (KD) of the protease 

Out of Scope:

• Target diseases exclude cancer and all infectious diseases, including COVID‑19 and HIV 
• Studies on the development of any modalities for specific protease inhibition 
• Opportunities related to intracellular proteases 
• Drug discovery and development platforms

Developmental Stages of Interest:

• Basic research—provided it is supported by wet‑lab data—through to preclinical research is within scope 
• Proposals should include in vivo or ex vivo data, preferably using human-relevant disease models, enabling the verification of the contribution of the protease to the disease 
• Proposals should provide a clear outline of the subsequent research steps

Submission Information

Submission of one-page, 200–300-word briefs is encouraged, along with any optional supplementary information e.g. relevant publications. Our client is also open to novel research proposals which can be outlined using this submission form. In submitting to this campaign, you confirm that your submission contains only non-confidential information. 

Opportunity for Collaboration

Our client is open to a range of collaboration opportunities, with the most appropriate outcome being decided on a case-by-case basis. Example outcomes include licensing assets, project/PhD funding, and research collaborations.