Astellas and Pantherna enter into a new technology evaluation agreement to study scaling up target organs to generate mRNA-based regenerative medicine programs using direct reprogramming

Tokyo and Hennesdorf, Germany, October March 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Astellas Pharmaceuticals. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Yaskawa KenjiPh.D., “Astellas”) and Pantherna Therapeutics GmbH (CEO: Klaus Giese, Ph.D., “Pantherna”) announced today that the two companies have entered into an agreement to evaluate a new technology for research generating mRNA-based of regeneration using direct reprogramming (transdifferentiation) medical procedures*.

The agreement expands the scope of the research technology evaluation agreement that Astellas and Pantherna entered into in 2021 to include new target organs.

Pantherna has a proprietary platform of state-of-the-art unique mRNA molecules (PTXmRNAs) for increasing the efficiency of mRNA action in vivo. Under the new agreement, Pantherna’s mRNA platform and Astellas’ world-class drug discovery capabilities will combine to facilitate research using direct reprogramming methods to generate regenerative medicine programs for new target organs. Astellas will be responsible for providing drug discovery ideas, preparing candidate compounds for technical evaluation and conducting research aimed at developing this therapeutic modality, while Pantherna will provide technical information and development support.

“We are excited about expanding our partnership with Astellas,” said Pantherna’s CEO, Claus Gies“We are honored that, as a leading pharmaceutical company, Astellas has highlighted their interest in leveraging the unique aspects of our proprietary therapeutic mRNA technology.”

“Through this agreement, we expand the scope of our collaboration with Pantherna, where we will create innovative regenerative medicine programs for new target organs, which we hope will enable us to expand treatment options for diseases of unmet medical need.” said Tai Chi Zeben, Ph.D., Executive Vice President of Applied Research and Operations at Astellas. “The collaboration with Pantherna is an initiative to synergistically integrate Astellas’ expertise with mRNA as a therapeutic modality and its ability to develop in the field of direct reprogramming research, and will leverage a focus area-based approach strategy.”

* Direct Reprogramming: Directly switch cell fate without going through a pluripotent state. https://www.astellas.com/en/science/direct-reprogramming-research-unit

About Astellas
Astellas Pharmaceuticals is a pharmaceutical company with operations in more than 70 countries around the world. We are promoting the “Focus Areas Approach,” which aims to identify opportunities for the continuous creation of new medicines to address diseases of unmet medical need by focusing on biology and patterns. Additionally, we are moving beyond our base Rx focus to create Rx+® Healthcare solutions that combine our expertise with cutting-edge technologies from different fields of external partners. Through these efforts, Astellas is at the forefront of healthcare transformation, translating innovative science into value for patients. For more information, please visit our website https://www.astellas.com/en.

About Pantherna
Pantherna Therapeutics is a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class therapies for vascular diseases. Pantherna’s innovative technology platform is based on advanced lipid nanoparticles for targeted specific, selective delivery and expression of therapeutic mRNA drugs in organs and tissues such as the endothelium. Pantherna Therapeutics recently received Pharma Trends 2022 honor for its lead drug candidate PAN004 in the Most Innovative Product: Leap Innovations – Nucleic Acid-Based Drug Development category

(https://businesswire.com/news/home/20220916005215/en/Pharma-Trend-Honors-the-Best-Pharmaceutical-Companies-and-the-Most-Innovative-Products_2022). Pantherna is located in Hennigsdorf (Innovationsforum) in Brandenburg, close to Berlin, Germany. For more information, please visit our website https://pantherna-therapeutics.com/.

Precautions (Astellas)
Statements in this press release regarding current plans, estimates, strategies and beliefs and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements regarding Astellas’ future performance. These statements are based on management’s current assumptions and beliefs, given information currently available to it, and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: (i) general economic conditions and changes in laws and regulations related to the pharmaceutical market, (ii) currency exchange rate fluctuations, (iii) delays in the introduction of new products, (iv) Astellas’ inability to market effectively Existing and new products, (v) Astellas’ inability to continue to effectively develop products that are acceptable to customers in a competitive marketplace, and (vi) third-party violations of Astellas’ intellectual property rights.

The information contained in this press release regarding medicinal products, including products currently in development, does not constitute advertising or medical advice.

SOURCE Astellas Pharma Inc.

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