/EINPresswire.com/ -- HARRISON, NY--(Marketwired - April 05, 2018) - Sapience Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing peptide therapeutics to address difficult to treat oncology indications, announced today that it has entered into a research collaboration agreement with the University of Bath to discover new therapeutic agents.

"We are pleased to be collaborating with Dr. Jody Mason and the University of Bath to discover promising new oncology drugs. Jody has spent over 15 years developing and refining this drug discovery approach and has demonstrated a capacity to generate promising leads against selected targets. This collaboration gives Sapience the opportunity to supplement our ST101 program with a broad pipeline of new peptide therapeutics targeting oncogenic and immune-modulatory protein-protein interactions," said Dr. Barry Kappel, founder and chief executive officer of Sapience Therapeutics. "We are also excited about the addition of ST201 to our pipeline, which is a promising anti-cancer agent discovered by Dr. Mason that has the potential to treat many solid tumor indications."

Dr. Mason added, "Protein-protein interactions represent a class of drug targets that typically lack the required binding pockets to be inhibited via conventional small-molecule approaches. Sapience and myself share the view that oncogenic protein-protein interactions are best targeted via peptide-based therapeutics. I am incredibly excited by this collaboration and look forward to our discovery of molecules targeting cancers that are currently very difficult to treat."

Under the terms of the agreement, Sapience will have exclusive rights to the development and commercialization of any novel compounds arising from this research. For molecules developed under the agreement, University of Bath will receive milestone payments associated with clinical development and a royalty on future commercial sales. The agreement also provides Sapience with the right to build, own, operate and partner the discovery platform.

About University of Bath

The University of Bath is one of the UK's leading universities both in terms of research, reputation for excellence in teaching, learning and graduate prospects.

In the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 research assessment 87 per cent of research was defined as 'world-leading' or 'internationally excellent'. From developing peptide-based drugs, or fuel-efficient cars of the future, to identifying infectious diseases more quickly, or working to improve the lives of female farmers in West Africa, research from Bath is making a difference around the world. Find out more: http://www.bath.ac.uk/research/

Well established as a nurturing environment for enterprising minds, Bath is ranked highly in all national league tables. We are ranked 5th in the UK by The Guardian University Guide 2018, 6th for graduate employment and 4^th in the Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey 2018. Bath has also been named Sports University of the Year 2018 by The Times and Sunday Times.

The University is rated Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), the Government's assessment of teaching quality in universities, meaning its teaching is of the highest quality in the UK.

About Sapience Therapeutics

Sapience Therapeutics, Inc., is a privately held biotechnology company focused on developing peptide therapeutics for major unmet medical needs, particularly high mortality cancers. Our drug development program involves translating science into novel therapies, and our lead compound is a first-in-class molecule with potential applications in various solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. For more information on Sapience Therapeutics, please visit www.sapiencetherapeutics.com.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, and any statements other than statements of historical fact could be deemed to be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements may include, among other things, statements regarding future events that involve significant risks and uncertainties. These statements are based on management's current expectations, and actual results and future events may differ materially as a result of certain factors, including, without limitation, risks related to the application of the net proceeds from the offering to Sapience's product development objectives, our ability to obtain additional funds, and meet applicable regulatory standards and receive required regulatory approvals. These are forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Sapience does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events, changed assumptions or otherwise.

Source: Sapience Therapeutics, Inc.