Protagonist Therapeutics Inc. develops peptide‑based drugs using a proprietary platform that creates highly potent, selective and metabolically stable peptide therapeutics for targets that are difficult for small molecules or biologics. Its clinical‑stage pipeline includes a hepcidin mimetic for polycythemia vera and an oral IL‑23 receptor antagonist for ulcerative colitis, pursued in partnership with major biopharma. The company aims to deliver new treatment options for rare and common diseases with significant unmet medical needs.
Funding
$132.2M raised to dateRaised to date based on public sources. This may differ from the amount the company actually raised and is based only on what is publicly available on the internet.
Founders
Product
Problem
Patients with rare and prevalent diseases such as polycythemia vera, ulcerative colitis, and other inflammatory or blood disorders often lack effective therapies because existing small‑molecule drugs or biologics cannot adequately target certain protein interactions, leading to unmet medical needs and limited treatment options.
Solution
Protagonist Therapeutics leverages a proprietary peptide technology platform to design and develop first‑in‑class peptide therapeutics that can mimic or inhibit challenging biological targets, including cytokines, cytokine receptors, integrins, GPCRs, ion channels, and solute transporters. The platform enables the creation of highly potent, selective, metabolically stable, and manufacturable peptide candidates. Using this approach, the company has advanced late‑stage clinical programs such as rusfertide (a hepcidin mimetic for polycythemia vera) and PN‑235 (an oral IL‑23 receptor antagonist for inflammatory bowel disease) in partnership with Janssen. By delivering peptide drugs that address targets poorly served by traditional modalities, Protagonist aims to provide new treatment options for both rare and common diseases with significant unmet need.
Target Audience
Primary customers are pharmaceutical companies and biopharma partners seeking novel peptide candidates for rare blood disorders and inflammatory diseases, as well as clinicians and patients who require new therapeutic options for conditions with limited existing treatments.
Features
- Proprietary peptide engineering platform that optimizes potency, specificity, solubility, metabolic stability, and manufacturability.
- Ability to generate agonists and antagonists for difficult targets such as cytokine receptors, integrins, GPCRs, ion channels, and transmembrane transporters.
- Clinical‑stage pipeline including a phase‑3 hepcidin mimetic (rusfertide) for polycythemia vera and an oral peptide IL‑23 receptor antagonist (PN‑235) for ulcerative colitis.
- Co‑development partnership framework with major biopharma (e.g., Janssen Biotech) to accelerate late‑stage development and commercialization.
- Integrated preclinical and clinical data platforms that support rapid iteration and regulatory submission for peptide therapeutics.