Bicycle Therapeutics, a biotechnology company pioneering a new class of therapeutics based on its proprietary bicyclic peptide product platform, has entered into a collaboration with AstraZeneca for the identification and development of bicyclic peptides (Bicycles) for the treatment of respiratory, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.

Bicycles, a novel class of small molecule medicines, are designed to overcome many of the limitations of existing drug modalities. They exhibit the affinity and exquisite target specificity usually associated with antibodies but in a small molecule format enabling rapid tissue penetration and flexible routes of administration.

Under the terms of the agreement, Bicycle is responsible for identifying Bicycles for an undisclosed number of targets specified by AstraZeneca while AstraZeneca is responsible for further development and product commercialization. If all planned programs reach the market, Bicycle will be eligible for over $1 billion in payments, including an upfront payment, future R&D funding, development, regulatory and commercialization milestone payments. Bicycle would also be entitled to receive royalties on sales of products resulting from the collaboration.

“We are pleased to be partnering with AstraZeneca to deploy our Bicycle technology to multiple targets across important disease areas, further expanding our therapeutic scope to indications outside of our core focus in oncology,” said Kevin Lee, chief, Bicycle Therapeutics Limited. “This collaboration is a testament to the broad applicability of Bicycles and the robust platform we have created. We look forward to working with AstraZeneca to create novel inhaled therapeutics and targeting agents in these areas of high unmet medical need. ”

“The bicycle platform expands our drug discovery capabilities and enables us to broaden the range of targets we can prosecute across a range of disease indications,” said Menelas Pangalos, executive vice president, Innovative Medicines and Early Development Biotech Unit and Global Business Development at AstraZeneca. “By combining the expertise and strengths of AstraZeneca and Bicycle Therapeutics, we are confident this collaboration will result in clinically important advances for patients suffering from respiratory, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.”

“This is a broad partnership between two entrepreneurial and innovative companies, as illustrated by the collaborative deal structure we have put in place. Bicycle’s focus so far has been in oncology and bringing AstraZeneca’s expertise in respiratory, cardiovascular and metabolic disease to their platform substantially expands its potential,” added Kumar Srinivasan, vice president, Scientific Partnering and Alliances, Innovative Medicines and Early Development Biotech Unit at AstraZeneca.