Novartis re-ups on PeptiDream’s macrocyclic peptide promise

Novartis was the first big pharma to get behind radiopharmaceuticals, and an expanded deal with an existing partner shows that the Swiss developer intends to keep pushing the field forward. It has agreed to pay PeptiDream $180m up front to develop novel macrocyclic peptides against unnamed targets for potential conjugation to radionuclides. This isn't the first transaction in this space for Japan’s PeptiDream, which attracted Roche last year in a similarly focused radiopharmaceutical deal. Big pharma is showing growing interest in macrocyclic peptides, which have been described as a “goldilocks” modality by Merck & Co scientists, because their molecular weight sits between small molecules and biologics. Merck’s most advanced work here is in cardiology, but it signed up Unnatural Products to develop macrocyclic candidates against an undisclosed oncology target earlier this year. PeptiDream, meanwhile, is gearing up to put its first in-house candidate into the clinic in Japan later this year. PD-32766 is a macrocyclic peptide radioisotope conjugate against CA9 (CAIX), which is frequently upregulated in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.