Sosei : subsidiary, Heptares, enters drug R&D collaboration with Imperial College London focused on multiple GPCR disease target opportunities in the gastro-intestinal tract

Sosei subsidiary, Heptares, enters drug R&D collaboration with Imperial College London focused on multiple GPCR disease target opportunities in the gastro-intestinal tract

Tokyo, Japan and London, UK, 10 January 2018 - Heptares Therapeutics ("Heptares"), the wholly-owned subsidiary of Sosei Group Corporation (TSE Mothers Index: 4565), announces it has entered a new drug research and development collaboration with Imperial College London.

The strategic multi-year collaboration brings together complementary teams at Heptares and Imperial College London seeking to rapidly advance drug discovery and translational research focused on multiple new and existing G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) disease target opportunities associated with the gastro-intestinal (GI) tract.

Gastrointestinal disease is the third most common cause of death. The GI tract represents the largest endocrine organ in the body producing multiple hormones that act on a diverse range of GPRCs located within the GI tract and throughout the body, many of which have been implicated in the pathophysiology of multiple GI diseases. This collaboration aims to leverage the significant recent progress made in understanding how GPCRs in the GI tract can be modulated and will support the application of Heptares structure-based approaches to develop novel treatments for GI disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease.

Malcolm Weir, Chief R&D Officer of Sosei and Heptares, said "Collaboration with world-class academic research groups is integral to our long-term drug discovery strategy. These groups provide the fundamental science and biological insights to the role of GPCRs in human disease to which Heptares can apply its world-leading GPCR-targeted drug discovery and translational medicine capabilities to generate new drug candidate molecules for advancement through our pipeline. This collaboration with Imperial College London builds on existing GPCR programmes implicated in immune disorders and GI function and we are excited by the potential it offers to support the identification and translation of new therapies for patients with GI diseases."

Professor Jonathan Weber, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London, said: "We hope this new partnership between Imperial and industry researchers will bring great benefits to science and public health. Breakthroughs in this field could ultimately help to the improve quality of life for patients living with inflammatory bowel disease, which affects more than half a million people in the UK alone."

Professor Gary Frost, Chair in Nutrition and Dietetics and head of the Nutrition and Food Network at Imperial College London, added: "This research will build on the growing body of knowledge around these key membrane receptors in the gut, investigating their potential in therapeutic interventions. We hope this new collaboration with Heptares will enable us to uncover new druggable targets and develop new treatments which could have far-reaching impact for patients with GI conditions."

Under the collaboration, Heptares will fund and support various programmes of work in terms of target discovery and validation and will be responsible for the progression and commercialisation of any compounds resulting from the collaboration. The collaboration will also support ongoing discovery and development programmes at Sosei/Heptares.

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About Sosei

Sosei Group Corporation is an international biopharmaceutical company originating from Japan that discovers and develops innovative biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, cancer, migraine, addiction, metabolic disease, and other indications. By utilizing its GPCR structure-based drug design platform technology, Sosei has established a product pipeline with first/best in class potential. Through development and commercialization partnerships, Sosei has already delivered two bronchodilators for COPD which generate significant and stable revenue streams that enable further growth. Sosei partners include Novartis, Allergan, AstraZeneca, MedImmune, MorphoSys, Teva, and Pfizer and we are actively looking for new partnerships to enhance the development of our products and help us deliver them to patients worldwide.

For further information about Sosei, please visithttp://www.sosei.com/en/.

About Imperial College London

Imperial College London is one of the world's leading universities. The College's 17,000 students and 8,000 staff are expanding the frontiers of knowledge in science, medicine, engineering and business, and translating their discoveries into benefits for our society.

Imperial is the UK's most international university, according to Times Higher Education, with academic ties to more than 150 countries. Reuters named the College as the UK's most innovative university because of its exceptional entrepreneurial culture and ties to industry.

For more information, visithttp://www.imperial.ac.uk/

Contact Information

Chris Cargill, Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Communications [phone]

Harumi Banse, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications (Japan) [phone]

Citigate Dewe Rogerson (for International media) Mark Swallow, David Dible [phone]

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