Ra Pharmaceuticals Achieves Clinical Milestone in Oral Macrocyclic Peptide Collaboration with Merck

On August 22, 2019, VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned from foreign media reports that Ra Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company, announced it had achieved a milestone in clinical development under its collaboration agreement with Merck. This milestone pertains to the dosing of the first patient in a Phase I clinical trial evaluating an oral macrocyclic peptide targeting a non-complement cardiovascular target, a collaboration that opens up significant market potential for both companies.

Under the terms of the agreement, Ra Pharmaceuticals will receive up to $56 million in additional milestone payments from Merck upon the achievement of development, regulatory, and commercialization milestones for the candidate drug. Ra Pharmaceuticals is also eligible to receive royalties from future sales of products resulting from the collaboration between the two parties.

Ra Pharmaceuticals’ proprietary Extreme Diversity™ platform generates highly specific and stable peptidomimetic molecules with the potential to enhance bioavailability and improve cell permeability, offering opportunities to target protein–protein interactions and other previously undruggable targets. By combining in vitro display technology, a complete translation system, and multiple non-natural amino acids, the platform produces novel drug-like peptides. Unlike other display technologies, in vitro display does not require bacterial or yeast hosts and can generate 10 to 100 trillion drug molecules, enabling the rapid discovery of high-potency candidate molecules.

“I am very pleased to reach this important milestone, which marks the entry of the second compound from the Extreme Diversity™ platform into clinical trials,” said Dr. Doug Treco, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ra Pharmaceuticals. “We will continue our collaboration with Merck to advance our internal pipeline products, including zilucoplan. Our lead clinical candidate has the potential to treat various complement-mediated diseases, and our platform technology spans a range of therapeutic areas.”

Ra Pharmaceuticals, established in June 2008 and headquartered in Massachusetts, USA, is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company. The company leverages its proprietary peptide chemistry platform to develop novel therapies for severe diseases caused by excessive or uncontrolled activation of the complement system. Committed to leading the field of complement biology, Ra Pharmaceuticals strives to provide innovative and convenient treatments for patients with rare diseases by discovering and developing peptides and small molecules that target key components of the complement cascade.

Founded in 1668, Merck Group boasts a history of approximately 350 years. Headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany, the group is primarily dedicated to innovative pharmaceuticals, life sciences, and cutting-edge performance materials technologies. Driven by technology, Merck Group consistently creates value for patients and customers. Its business operations are mainly divided into four segments: Merck Serono, Consumer Health, MilliporeSigma, and Performance Materials.

(Compiled by Cheng Tao)