Skyhawk Therapeutics, a biotech company based in Waltham, Mass., and Tokyo-based pharmaceutical giant Takeda announced on May 7 that they will collaborate on the discovery and development of drugs to target neurological disease.
The partnership will use Skyhawk's proprietary SkySTAR technology to invent small molecules that can correct RNA splicing, which has been linked to a wide variety of disease-causing mutations. Takeda will have exclusive license to develop and commercialize therapies targeting multiple neurodegenerative diseases using those small molecules.
"Takeda is deeply committed to pursuing innovative approaches that target central nervous system diseases with no available or effective treatments," Emiliangelo Ratti, head of Takeda's neuroscience therapeutic area, said in a statement. "Skyhawk's novel approach in correcting RNA expression will complement our expertise in small molecule science and may improve our chances of targeting neurological diseases that have previously been considered undruggable."
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