The partnership for their drug Respiratide was structured with a unique incentive. Protagonist can choose to opt out of a co-promote deal, which triggers a $400M payment from Takeda and elevates their potential future milestones and royalty rates significantly (up to 29%). This provides strategic flexibility and non-dilutive capital.
The company positions its peptide platform as the ideal middle ground in drug development. They aim to create medicines that are functionally like highly selective, less toxic large biologics (e.g., antibodies) but are structurally designed for the convenience of an oral pill, combining the best attributes of both major drug classes.
Beyond converting patients from existing injectable therapies, the company's core growth strategy for its oral IL-23 drug is to capture the 50%+ of eligible patients who currently refuse treatment altogether because they dislike injections. This transforms the strategy from market share capture to market creation.
The company's strategy for its IL-23 inhibitor isn't just a single drug approval. They follow an established industry model where one successful drug becomes a pipeline for multiple related inflammatory indications like psoriasis, Crohn's, and ulcerative colitis, dramatically expanding its market potential over time.
To tackle the high-risk, high-reward obesity market, the company is developing both an injectable and an oral version of the same triple-agonist molecule. The injectable version will enter the clinic first, allowing them to quickly obtain human proof-of-concept and validate the molecule's efficacy before investing heavily in the more complex oral formulation.
Developing a second oral peptide isn't a simple 'copy-and-paste' of the first. The team uses the analogy of having a second child: while past experience makes them faster and more efficient, each new molecule presents its own unique challenges that must be solved from scratch. This highlights the nuanced reality of platform technology leverage.