Shionogi & Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Chuo-ku, Osaka Japan; Chief Executive Officer: Isao TESHIROGI, Ph.D.; hereinafter referred to as “Shionogi”) and Veritas In Silico Inc. (Head Office: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Japan; Representative Director and CEO: Shingo NAKAMURA, Ph.D.; hereinafter referred to as “VIS”) are conducting joint drug discovery research of mRNA-targeted small molecules to create small molecule drugs targeting mRNA (hereinafter referred to as “Joint Drug Discovery Research”) based on the “Joint Drug Discovery Research Agreement” dated November 16, 2021.
The Companies have announced that it has reached a milestone in the progress of the Joint Drug Discovery Research.

● Outline of the Joint Drug Discovery Research
In the Joint Drug Discovery Research, Shionogi and VIS utilize VIS’s proprietary drug discovery platform, ibVIS^®, to target mRNAs corresponding to several genes related to infectious diseases and psychiatric and neurological disorders that Shionogi has been focusing on. The Joint Drug Discovery Research covers everything from identifying target structures on the mRNAs to discovering novel drug candidates that act on those structures and exhibit efficacy in animal models.

● About recently achieved milestone
The recently achieved milestone is the successful acquisition of compounds that target mRNA and exhibit a specific action—exerting their inhibitory effect on translation only for the target protein among structurally similar proteins—through the use of VIS’s ibVIS^Ⓡ drug discovery platform. These compounds meet the criteria necessary to proceed to the optimization phase. The upcoming phase of compound optimization can be approached mainly using methods typically applied to protein targets, rather than relying on approaches targeting mRNAs.

● Comments from Toshiyuki Asaki, Ph.D., Corporate Officer, Senior Vice President, Drug Discovery Research Division of Shionogi
The current milestone achieved through the joint drug discovery research with VIS demonstrates that mRNA-targeted drug discovery can be applied to diseases that are undruggable by conventional protein-targeted drug discovery.
We will continue to work closely with VIS to obtain lead compounds, and while leveraging each other’s strengths, we will work together to advance drug discovery research so that we can deliver drugs to patients as soon as possible.

● Comments from Shingo NAKAMURA, Ph.D., Representative Director and CEO of VIS
We are very proud of the remarkable achievements we have obtained through joint drug discovery research with Shionogi over the past three years. The research journey Shionogi and VIS have gone through up to this point has involved a series of advanced and challenging processes. We believe that these groundbreaking achievements are due to the strong sense of mission and perseverance of the researchers who participated in this joint drug discovery research, as well as the wholehearted commitment we received from Shionogi.
This joint drug discovery research will advance to a new stage. We will continue to work together as a unified team and devote ourselves to acquiring drug candidates.

● Impact on Future Business Performance of VIS
VIS will receive a milestone revenue in accordance with the achievement. It is scheduled to be accounted for as revenue in the second quarter of FY2025 and is anticipated to be approximately 1% of the business revenue of 788 million yen for FY2025.
Please note that this revenue has already been included in the earnings forecast for FY2025 announced on February 13, 2025, and no change to the forecast is expected.
In case any matters requiring disclosure arise in the future, they will be promptly disclosed.

 

For further information, contact the Veritas In Silico Website Inquiry Form at https://www.veritasinsilico.com/en/contact/