Business Development
Licensing, Acquisitions, & Research Collaborations
Santen is a loyal and respected business partner with nearly 130 years of experience in specialty ophthalmology pharmaceuticals and affiliates in all parts of the world. Collaborations are the primary way we fulfill our commitment — to fuel a pipeline of unique solutions for challenging unmet needs in ophthalmology and, in turn, to move closer to a future where permanent vision loss is a thing of the past.
We actively seek the following to help us deliver on our promise to ophthalmologists and their patients:
- Strategic research collaborations
- In-licensing
- Asset acquisitions
Why Partner with Santen
- Exclusive focus on vision care
- A global vision care specialty therapeutics company with deep expertise in drug and device development
- World-class manufacturing capabilities around the globe
- Vast repository of screening models for external technology companies interested in working with them
- Unwavering commitment to our partners’ success
Current Areas of Interest for Business Development
Santen is especially interested in product candidates with a human or mechanistic target proof of concept, including:
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Therapeutic solutions that fit our current focus areas
- Retinal diseases
- Glaucoma and neuroprotection
- Dry eye and corneal disorders
- Refractive disorders
- Gene and cell therapies
- Novel or repurposed therapeutic active ingredients
- Biomarkers and diagnostic tools
- Drug delivery technologies
- Surgical and other devices
- Digital health tools
- Patient support and adherence solutions
- Other technologies and innovations that could serve significant unmet needs in eye health
Recent Business Development Alliances
Discovery and development collaboration, in which Japan-based PeptiDream is using its proprietary Peptide Discovery Platform System toward identifying macrocyclic/constrained peptides against multiple ophthalmic disease targets of interest to Santen and to optimize hit peptides into ophthalmic therapies. Santen will manage preclinical/clinical development of identified candidates. Learn more
Strategic research collaboration with US-based twoXAR, Inc., an artificial intelligence-driven biotech company, focused on identifying new drug candidates for glaucoma. Santen will have exclusive rights to develop and commercialize resulting candidates.
Strategic 5-year collaboration to create a joint laboratory and to co-develop new technologies to address eye diseases, especially those prevalent in Asia. Expands our current research alliance and leverages and builds on key programs already underway. Learn more
Strategic research collaboration with RIKEN and the Foundation for Biomedical Research and Innovation, in Asia, to identify new drug candidates for photoreceptor degenerative diseases using iPS cell-derived retinal cells from RIKEN. Includes establishment of a research lab at FBRI.
Collaboration with University College London to conduct basic and translational ophthalmology research with scientists in the university’s Institute of Ophthalmology.
Acquisition of InnFocus, Inc, US developer of Microshunt, a minimally invasive glaucoma surgery device for primary open-angle glaucoma. Learn more
Exclusive license agreement whereby Santen will develop and globally commercialize ONO-9054, an FP/EP3 dual agonist for the treatment of glaucoma and ocular hypertension developed by ONO.
Acquisition of Merck & Co, Inc.’s ophthalmology assets in Japan, Europe, and Asia Pacific.
License agreement for sales and marketing of ZIOPTAN® in the US market.
License agreement for developing TRC105, an anti-endoglin antibody for ophthalmology. Learn more