• Astellas Pharma Inc., of Tokyo, and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) agreed to collaborate on drug discovery research for leishmaniasis, Chagas disease and sleeping sickness. Under the terms, Astellas will provide DNDi with a selection of original compounds for screening, and DNDi will conduct reprofiling of the compounds to test their anti-protozoan activities and assess their potential as candidates for the three neglected tropical diseases.

• Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, of Ingelheim, Germany, and Polyphor Ltd., of Allschwil, Switzerland, inked a research collaboration and license agreement to apply Polyphor's MacroFinder drug discovery technology to identify and optimize macrocyclic drug candidates addressing therapeutic targets selected by Boehringer. Under the terms, Polyphor will receive undisclosed up-front, research and milestone payments, plus royalties on sales of any products resulting from the collaboration.