Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. announced that two additional oral peptide IL-23 receptor antagonist candidates from its collaboration agreement with Janssen Biotech, Inc., have been selected for advancement into clinical development. The two new candidates, PN-235 (JNJ-77242113) and PN-232 (JNJ-75105186), are being developed as part of a portfolio strategy of discovering and developing oral IL-23 receptor antagonists. The initial oral candidate in the collaboration agreement, PTG-200 (JNJ-67864238), is currently in a Phase 2 proof-of-concept study in patients with moderate to severe Crohn’s disease.
“Nominating two additional oral, IL-23 receptor antagonists for clinical development from the ongoing research collaboration with Janssen demonstrates our continued success, commitment to the IL-23 pathway franchise, and the versatility of our peptide engineering platform,” commented Dinesh V. Patel, Ph.D., Protagonist President and Chief Executive Officer. “The IL-23 pathway is a validated therapeutic mechanism, but orally delivered therapeutics for this class have not been available. The advancement of three different oral co-development candidates provides us with several strategic options for development in multiple indications. We look forward to the initiation of a Phase 1 study of PN-235 in the fourth quarter of 2020.”
Protagonist Therapeutics and Janssen are jointly conducting the development of PTG-200 through completion of Phase 2 clinical proof of concept in the treatment of Crohn’s disease. Protagonist and Janssen have established a co-development and commercialization agreement for IL-23 receptor targeted therapeutics with applications in various disease areas. According to the terms of the agreement, Janssen will be responsible for further development and commercialization activities of candidates beyond Phase 2 development. Protagonist is eligible to receive research, development, regulatory and sales milestone payments and has an option to co-detail products in the U.S. market.