Sosei Heptares Provides Update on Lotiglipron Development
Tokyo, Japan and Cambridge, UK, 27 June 2023 – Sosei Group Corporation (“the Company”; TSE: 4565) notes the decision by its partner Pfizer to prioritize the development of clinical-stage GLP-1 receptor agonist candidate danuglipron for the treatment of diabetes and obesity and as a result has discontinued the development of lotiglipron – see Pfizer press announcement . Both novel and orally available candidates were being advanced by Pfizer in Phase 2 clinical trials.
Lotiglipron was discovered and developed by Pfizer during a multi-target research collaboration in which Pfizer had access to Sosei Heptares proprietary StaR® technology.
Sosei Heptares will explore next steps with Pfizer for the future development of lotiglipron, as the Company has done previously with other partners in similar situations.
Chris Cargill, President & CEO of Sosei Heptares, commented: “Pfizer has generated a considerable amount of clinical data on the safety and efficacy of lotiglipron but we respect its decision to prioritize danuglipron. We intend to work with Pfizer to understand the scientific and clinical data, and potentially assess alternative paths forward for the program. Separately, we remain highly active in this important therapeutic area, and in December 2022 entered a new multi-target collaboration with another global biopharma company to discover, develop and commercialize small molecules that modulate novel GPCR targets associated with diabetes and metabolic diseases.”
Sosei Heptares has not contributed to the costs of clinical development for lotiglipron. The Company’s immediate assessment of the impact of the discontinuation is that it should not have a material impact on full year 2023 financial results. Should any impacts or other matters that require an announcement be identified, the Company will announce such matters promptly.
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About Sosei Heptares
Sosei Heptares’ mission is to make lifechanging medicines using worldleading science and our vision is to become one of Japan’s global biopharmaceutical champions.
We are a science and technologyled company focused on the discovery and early development of new medicines originating from our proprietary GPCRtargeted StaR® technology and structure-based drug design platform. We are advancing a broad and deep pipeline of novel medicines across multiple therapeutic areas, including neurology, immunology, gastroenterology, and inflammatory diseases.
We have established partnerships with some of the world’s leading biopharmaceutical companies and multiple emerging technology companies, including AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Genentech (Roche), GSK, Kallyope, Lilly, Neurocrine Biosciences, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi, Takeda and Verily.
Sosei Heptares is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan with corporate and R&D facilities in Cambridge, UK.
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Sosei Heptares – Media and Investor Relations
Hironoshin Nomura, Chief Financial Officer
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Forward-looking statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements about the discovery, development, and commercialization of products. Various risks may cause Sosei Group Corporation’s actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including: adverse results in clinical development programs; failure to obtain patent protection for inventions; commercial limitations imposed by patents owned or controlled by third parties; dependence upon strategic alliance partners to develop and commercialize products and services; difficulties or delays in obtaining regulatory approvals to market products and services resulting from development efforts; the requirement for substantial funding to conduct research and development and to expand commercialization activities; and product initiatives by competitors. As a result of these factors, prospective investors are cautioned not to rely on any forward-looking statements. We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
