Ensemble Therapeutics has entered a drug discovery collaboration with a subsidiary of Alexion Pharmaceuticals to discover Macrocycle drug candidates targeting severe and ultra-rare disorders. Ensemble will screen its Ensemblin collection of more than 10 million macrocycles against several disease targets specified by Alexion, in order to discover new small molecule clinical candidates. Alexion will have the exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize candidates arising from the collaboration. Ensemble will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and research support, and is eligible for additional payments based on certain development and commercial milestones.
 
“Ensemble is thrilled to support Alexion’s cutting edge scientific and clinical programs with our ever increasing capability for macrocycle-based drug discovery,” said Dr. Michael D. Taylor, chief executive officer of Ensemble. “This new collaboration with a leading biopharmaceutical innovator focused on rare diseases speaks to the breadth of utility of Ensemble’s discovery platforms to address clinically important yet challenging drug targets,” Dr. Taylor added.
 
“Alexion looks forward to a productive collaboration with Ensemble as we seek to broaden the number of pathways toward developing potentially transformative first-in-class drug candidates for patients with selected severe and life-threatening ultra-rare disorders,” said Martin Mackay, Ph.D., executive vice president, head of Global R&D at Alexion. “This is a promising addition to our development initiatives as we seek to further expand our product portfolio.”