The companies share the goal of furthering knowledge around GPCR biology in immune cells in order to better understand a range of immune system disorders.
Sosei Group Corporation and Verily, an Alphabet precision health company, announced that they have entered into a strategic research collaboration. This agreement brings together the capabilities of Verily’s immune profiling and Sosei Heptares’ G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) structure-based drug design.
Under this collaboration, the companies aim to accelerate the understanding of GPCR biology in immune cells, particularly in the fields of immunology, gastroenterology, immuno-oncology and other disorders with immunoprotective or immunopatheogenic mechanisms.
The collaboration also aims to prioritise and validate GPCR targets with strong potential as drug targets, as well as discovering and developing novel drug candidates that modulate these targets.
Verily’s proprietary Immune Profiler is a next generation immune mapping platform, which combines high-resolution molecular phenotyping performed in Verily’s labs and advanced computational analysis techniques to generate insights into immune system functions.
This will be used to identify GPCR targets that represent new opportunities to modulate immune cell function and ameliorate disease pathology.
Matt Barnes, vice president, drug discovery at Sosei Heptares, commented: “We are extremely pleased to collaborate with Verily on this exciting and expansive project, which aims to identify GPCRs expressed in immune cells, enhance our understanding of their functional relevance and prosecute as potential drug targets in immunological diseases. Immunology is a key area of focus for Sosei Heptares, and this new collaboration brings together two world-class technologies and teams with the skills and expertise, to define key GPCRs as targets for the discovery of new medicines that could have significant impact on patients with immune-based diseases worldwide.”
Jessica Mega, chief medical & scientific officer, co-Founder, Verily, added: “We recognise Sosei Heptares as a leader in targeting GPCRs, one of the most valuable families of protein targets to date. Our complementary expertise in data-driven prioritisation of novel therapeutic targets and expertise in GPCR drug development make for a perfect match to accelerate the development of future therapeutic options for patients suffering with immune-mediated disease.”
