Zealand takes on Takeda's IBD drug with tiny buyout
After years developing a peptide to treat short bowel syndrome (SBS), Zealand Pharma is joining the hunt for the white whale of the gastrointestinal track: inflammatory bowel disease.
The Danish biotech is buying out Toronto-based Encycle Therapeutics for up to $80 million to acquire their lead peptide, ET3764, along with a bank of approximately 5,000 unique peptide macrocycles. The preclinical drug has the same mechanism as Entyvio (vedolizumab), Takeda’s blockbuster ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease treatment – both forms of IBD. The big pitch is that Encycle’s drug is oral, as opposed to the Entyvio infusion.
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