Assembly Biosciences Inc. (Nasdaq: ASMB) and Door Pharmaceuticals LLC have announced that the companies have signed an exclusive, two-year collaboration and option agreement focused on the development of a novel class of hepatitis B virus core protein modulators.

Door Pharmaceuticals’ innovative discovery platform targets functions of core protein that are distinct from viral assembly and have the potential to interfere with viral nucleic acid including cccDNA transcription, providing a strong complement to Assembly Bio’s current portfolio.

Under the terms of the agreement, Door Pharmaceuticals will build upon its previous efforts to lead and conduct new discovery research, which will be funded by Assembly Bio. In return for an upfront payment and success-based milestones and royalties, Assembly Bio will be granted an exclusive option to license compounds arising from the collaboration and will be responsible for the continued development and commercialization of optioned compounds. Financial details were not disclosed.

“I’m thrilled at the opportunity to once again contribute to the advancement of Assembly Bio’s core inhibitor platform under this new collaboration,” said Adam Zlotnick, Ph.D., founder of Door Pharmaceuticals. “There is a clear mechanistic rationale for the potential role that core inhibitors can play in the treatment of HBV, and it is our hope and belief that the complementary mechanisms of action of these core protein modulators will offer an important therapeutic pathway toward an HBV cure.”

Door Pharmaceuticals licenses technology from the Indiana University Innovation and Commercialization Office, and Zlotnick is a professor of chemistry in Indiana University’s College of Arts and Sciences.

A news release about the collaboration and option agreement is available online.