• The licensing deal includes an upfront payment of USD 1.63 million, and may reach up to USD 24.4 million in milestone payments and royalties
• By strengthening the company's fibrotic disease development pipeline, Bridge will enhance its strategic focus on the development of comprehensive treatment solutions for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)

SEONGNAM, South Korea, April 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Bridge Biotherapeutics (KQ288330), a South Korean clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing novel drugs for fibrosis, inflammation, and cancer, today announced that the company has signed an exclusive in-license agreement with Shaperon, a South Korean clinical-stage biotech company, for its GPCR19 (G protein-coupled receptor 19) agonist, coded "BBT-209", in order to develop a novel therapy for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

Shaperon, the originator, has identified that BBT-209, a first-in-class GPCR19 agonist, controls GPCR19-P2X7 expressions and downregulates component proteins of NLRP3 so that inflammation signaling networks can be significantly suppressed by the compound's mode of action.

Through IPF animal models, Bridge Biotherapeutics has confirmed that the drug candidate shows treatment efficacy through its robust anti-inflammatory activities. The company will utilize this data when developing monotherapy and/or combination therapy strategies.

By entering into the license agreement, Bridge will make an upfront payment of approximately USD 1.63 million (KRW 2 billion). The potential deal value equates to approximately USD 24.4 million (KRW 30 billion) including upfront, milestone, and royalty payments. 

"We are highly excited to in-license BBT-209, which is known to be the first-in-class GPCR19 agonist for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis," said James Lee, CEO of Bridge Biotherapeutics. "By jointly working with Shaperon, our development team will make the best effort to ensure the rapid advancement for our novel drug candidate, along with the other pipeline assets under the company's IPF franchise," James added.

"We hope that BBT-209 will become a breakthrough therapy for patients with IPF, who are currently lacking treatment options" and "We will accelerate the development of innovative treatments, to help improve the quality of life for patients suffering from rare diseases, such as IPF, through our partnership with Bridge Biotherapeutics, which has a proven track record in both global drug development and business development," said Seung-Yong Seong, M.D., Ph.D., and Myung-Sea Lee M.D., M.B.A., co-CEOs of Shaperon.

Bridge Biotherapeutics reinforces its strategic focus on disease areas with significant unmet medical needs and lacks novel approved therapies, including cancers and various fibrotic diseases. Relating to idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, the company has been accelerating the development of BBT-877 (an autotaxin inhibitor), BBT-301 (an ion channel modulator), and BBT-209 (a GPCR19 agonist).

About Bridge Biotherapeutics, Inc.

Bridge Biotherapeutics Inc. is a publicly traded clinical-stage biotech company domiciled in the Republic of Korea with offices in the U.S. and China. Founded in 2015, Bridge Biotherapeutics is engaged in the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for diseases with high unmet medical needs including cancer, ulcerative colitis, and various fibrotic diseases. The company's pipeline includes BBT-401, a first-in-class Pellino-1 inhibitor for the treatment of ulcerative colitis; BBT-877, a novel autotaxin inhibitor for the treatment of fibrotic diseases including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF); and BBT-176, a potent targeted therapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR C797S triple mutations. For more information, please visit https://www.bridgebiorx.com/en/. 

About Shaperon

Shaperon is a clinical-stage biotech company developing novel inflammasome inhibitors in the Republic of Korea.  Its unique mechanism of action via GPCR19-P2X7 modulation suppresses a broad spectrum of inflammatory cytokines by controlling both priming and activation phase of inflammasome.  Shaperon is engaged in multiple clinical programs in atopic dermatitis, COVID-19, Alzheimer's disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), ulcerative colitis, and NASH.  Additionally, Shaperon is developing multi-valent and multi-specific nanobodies in oncology and viral infections.  For more information, please visit http://www.shaperon.com/eng/main/