Chinese biotech company HitGen Inc (688222.SH) said on Saturday that it has extended the previous drug discovery research collaboration to identify small molecule leads against targets specified by Morphic Therapeutic.

Pursuant to the extended agreement, HitGen will use its DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology platform based on the design, synthesis and interrogation and selection to discover ligands for targets of interest to Morphic.

In conjunction with the collaboration, Morphic will pay an assignment fee to HitGen in exchange for exclusive development and commercialization rights to compounds that achieve the criteria of the collaboration.

Additionally, HitGen's industry-leading DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology platform includes over 400bn encoded syntheses of small molecules with drug-like properties, synthesized on chemically-diverse scaffolds.