Is Takeda looking for demonstrated PET ligands or only small molecule binders that Takeda can use to make PET ligands?
- Takeda is looking for “starting materials” — small molecule binders of lysosomal proteins and glycosaminoglycans for eventual use as PET ligands. That said, if someone has an already formed PET ligand, Takeda would also be very interested in collaborating.
- Takeda is stage agnostic. A molecule could be early (proof of concept for binding) or late (demonstrated PK and in-vivo binding). Eventual use is in humans, but will progress through in vitro and animals along the way for validation. A patented molecule is not a blocker, unless the fields of interest are already licensed to another party.
Is there a particular class of lysosome associated proteins Takeda is most interested in?
- Takeda is agnostic to the site of the lysosomal protein. Membrane bound proteins (i.e. the lysosomally-associated membrane proteins, LAMPs) are obvious candidates. However, a typically glycosylated protein that accumulates in the diseased lysosome – within the lumen – is still of interest.