BridGene Biosciences Announces $770M Strategic Collaboration with Takeda to Develop Novel Small Molecule Therapies in Immunology and Neurology

San Jose, California, USA, February 25, 2025 — BridGene Biosciences, Inc. (BridGene Biosciences), a leader in discovering small molecule drugs targeting traditionally "undruggable" targets, today announced a strategic collaboration and licensing agreement with Takeda. Under the terms of the collaboration, BridGene will leverage its chemoproteomics platform, IMTAC™, to discover novel small molecule drug candidates for challenging targets in the fields of immunology and neuroscience. Both parties will jointly advance these projects from initial screening to early lead compound development. Takeda will have exclusive rights to develop and commercialize all potential products discovered through this collaboration.

This research collaboration covers multiple targets and leverages BridGene's IMTAC™ platform, which has unique advantages. The platform employs chemoproteomics to discover potential small-molecule drugs targeting traditionally undruggable targets. Under the terms of the agreement, BridGene will receive a $46 million upfront payment and potential preclinical milestone payments, with the possibility of earning approximately $770 million in cumulative payments throughout the collaboration period via clinical and commercial milestones. Additionally, BridGene will receive tiered royalties based on net sales of products potentially arising from the collaboration.

"We are delighted to continue our collaboration with Takeda to discover novel therapeutic approaches targeting challenging immunology and neuroscience targets," said Dr. Ping Cao, Co-founder and CEO of BridGene Biosciences. "This collaboration fully demonstrates the potential of our IMTAC™ platform in discovering first-in-class therapies, while complementing Takeda's comprehensive clinical and commercialization capabilities."

"The collaboration with BridGene underscores our commitment to continuous innovation in the fields of neuroscience and immunology, driving transformative patient care through cutting-edge science," said Dr. Christopher Arendt, Head of Research at Takeda and Chief Scientific Officer. "By combining BridGene’s IMTAC™ platform with Takeda’s scientific expertise, we aim to unlock a broader range of previously considered undruggable targets, advancing our core strategy in small molecule drug discovery."

BridGene Biosciences, Inc. is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of innovative small-molecule drugs, dedicated to tackling traditionally undruggable targets and paving new pathways for disease treatment. Through its proprietary chemoproteomics platform IMTAC™, BridGene Biosciences is able to perform small-molecule screening on all proteins in living cells, identifying potential drugs for high-value, previously undruggable targets. BridGene Biosciences is advancing a pipeline of first-in-class drugs across multiple therapeutic areas.