Express targeting RNA-modified protein to treat leukemia, Ipsen reached over 400 million US dollars in cooperation

▎Editor of WuXi AppTec content team On October 18, 2021, Ipsen and Accent Therapeutics announced that they have reached an exclusive global cooperation agreement to advance the research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of drugs targeting the RNA-modified protein METL3
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Accent's new METL3 small molecule inhibitor is designed to treat specific subtypes of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with high unmet medical needs
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AML is a difficult-to-treat blood and bone marrow cancer.
Globally, the incidence of AML has been increasing year by year in the past 20 years
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RNA-modifying proteins (RMPs) are a class of emerging targets that represent a new strategy for the treatment of various cancers
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METTL3 is a type of RMP, and its potential as a new therapeutic target for AML has been verified in preclinical experiments
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This collaboration combines Accent's expertise in RMP targeted therapies and Ipsen's manufacturing and development capabilities
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One of the most common modifications of mRNA is the methylation of the N6 adenine base to form N6-methyladenosine (m6A)
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The methyltransferase complex METL3/METTL14 catalyzes this modification process
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m6A participates in the regulation of mRNA stability and renewal, and affects the translation of oncogenes
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Previous studies have shown that knocking out METL3 and/or METL14 can promote the differentiation and apoptosis of AML cancer cells, and has been shown to be important for the growth of cancer cells in vitro and in vivo
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Image source: Accent's official website.
According to the terms of the cooperation agreement, Ipsen has obtained the exclusive development rights for a METL3 small molecule inhibitor
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Accent may receive a total of US$446 million in advance payments, pre-clinical, clinical, regulatory and sales milestone payments, plus future royalties for tiered sales of the product
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Dr.
Shakti Narayan, CEO of Accent, said: “This collaboration combines Ipsen ’s ability to develop and commercialize transformative oncology drugs with Accent’s expertise in the field of RNA modification
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We are very pleased to hand over the METL3 project to Ipsen’s innovative team brings this new type of therapy to patients in need
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"Reference: [1] Ipsen Adds Another Program Into Its Pre-Clinical R&D Oncology Pipeline Through an Exclusive Worldwide Collaboration With Accent Therapeutics, Targeting the RNA Modifying Protein, METTL3.
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