HemoShear Therapeutics, LLC has extended its partnership with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. to discover and develop additional novel therapeutics for liver diseases, including nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

Under the original agreement, HemoShear received upfront payments and R&D funding, and Takeda received exclusive access to HemoShear’s disease modeling platform to discover and develop best-in-class therapeutics for specific liver diseases. HemoShear is eligible to receive milestone payments of potentially $470 million and royalties.

The partnership has generated several early drug discovery targets shown to inhibit biological processes associated with inflammation and fibrosis that can lead to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cirrhosis, and liver cancer.  

“We are excited that Takeda recognizes our unique ability to identify novel therapeutic approaches for liver fibrosis and NASH,” said Jim Powers, HemoShear’s chief executive officer. “We have an incredibly strong and productive relationship with Takeda and are happy to see our science drive their decision to expand our partnership.”

“Our partnership with HemoShear has already borne fruit and we are enthusiastic about expanding the relationship,” said Gareth Hicks, Ph.D., head of GI Drug Discovery at Takeda. “We are planning to advance novel drug targets identified and validated by HemoShear into our discovery pipeline and look forward to bringing new therapies to the clinic.”