Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc company profile

Overview

Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing peptide medicines using its proprietary drug-discovery platform. Its programs target inflammatory and immune-mediated, hematologic, and metabolic diseases, including conditions with unmet medical needs; the company describes its mission as improving patients’ lives through peptide drug discovery and development.[1][2]

Its portfolio includes ICOTYDE (icotrokinra), an oral IL-23 receptor blocker approved in the United States for plaque psoriasis and licensed to Johnson & Johnson, and rusfertide, an investigational hepcidin mimetic for polycythemia vera licensed to Takeda. The company also has earlier-stage programs in areas including inflammation and obesity.[3]

Protagonist is headquartered in Newark, California, and has a wholly owned subsidiary in Brisbane, Australia. It reported 132 full-time-equivalent employees at year-end 2025. For 2025, it reported $46.016 million in collaboration and license revenue and stated that it had not generated revenue from product sales.[10] [1]

Products & services

ICOTYDE™ (icotrokinra) is an oral peptide that blocks the IL-23 receptor. It was approved in the United States in March 2026 for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adults and eligible patients aged 12 or older who weigh at least 40 kg and are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy. Licensed to Janssen/J&J, it is also being developed for psoriatic arthritis, ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.[14][15]

MIMRYLO™ (rusfertide) is an injectable hepcidin mimetic for erythrocytosis in adults with polycythemia vera; the FDA approved it on August 28, 2026. Takeda is responsible for further development and commercialization.[4]

The development pipeline includes PN-881, an oral peptide antagonist of IL-17AA, IL-17AF and IL-17FF being studied for immune-mediated diseases including psoriasis; PN-477, a triple GLP-1/GIP/glucagon receptor agonist peptide in oral once-daily and subcutaneous once-weekly formats; and PN-458, a dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist peptide. PN-477 has begun a Phase 1 subcutaneous study, while Phase 1 trials for its oral format and PN-458 are planned for 2027. PN-8047 is an oral small-molecule hepcidin functional mimetic being developed as a potential complement to injectable rusfertide.[5]

The company also reports IL-4 and amylin programs, but provides no further product-specific detail in the cited filing material. Reported license-and-collaboration revenue is not allocated by product, so product revenue percentages are not specified.[20][21] [14]

Geographic presence

Protagonist Therapeutics is headquartered in Newark, California, where it has approximately 60,600 square feet of office and laboratory space. The company’s locations page also lists Brisbane, Australia; it does not disclose employee numbers or workforce distribution by location.[22]

The company reported no approved products for commercial sale in its FY2025 filing, and does not provide a country- or region-level breakdown of product sales or revenue.[25][26]

Its geographic collaboration arrangements have included U.S. rights for Protagonist and rights outside the United States for Takeda; a Q2 2026 filing later reported that Takeda held an exclusive worldwide license for rusfertide following Protagonist’s opt-out from U.S. profit-and-loss sharing. These are contractual territory terms, not a report of sales by geography.[27][28] [22]

Business segments

Protagonist Therapeutics reports one operating segment, encompassing its drug discovery and development activities. Management assesses performance and allocates resources on a company-wide basis; the company does not disclose separate financial contributions for individual programs or products. Accordingly, the reported operating segment represents 100% of the business, with no reported subsegment percentages.[26] The Q2 2026 filing continues to report one operating segment and presents license and collaboration revenue in aggregate, without allocating it by program.[29][30]

Revenue disclosures describe collaboration activity rather than distinct business segments. In 2025, Takeda accounted for 100% of revenue; the company does not provide a rusfertide-only revenue percentage.[31] In 2024, license and collaboration revenue was approximately 62% from Takeda and 38% from JNJ, but these partner shares are not reported as segments.[32] [26]

Company history

Protagonist’s origins date to Protagonist Pty Ltd, incorporated in Australia in September 2001 and incubated at the University of Queensland’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience; its U.S. parent, Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc., was incorporated in Delaware in 2006. Mark Smythe was a co-founder, and Dinesh V. Patel became president and CEO in 2008.[33] The company reported a $9 million Series B second-tranche financing in 2014, then completed its IPO in August 2016, raising $83.6 million in net proceeds.[34]

In 2016, Protagonist began a Phase 2b trial of PTG-100 for ulcerative colitis, which it discontinued in 2018 after a futility analysis; it pursued PN-943 as another oral integrin antagonist.[37][38] In 2017, it entered a worldwide collaboration with Janssen on the oral IL-23 receptor antagonist PTG-200, later expanded to include second-generation candidates.[39][40] Its pipeline subsequently advanced PTG-300, later known as rusfertide, and PN-943 into Phase 2 studies.[41][42] In 2024, Protagonist partnered with Takeda to develop and commercialize rusfertide.[43][44] Takeda submitted a rusfertide NDA in December 2025, which FDA accepted for Priority Review in March 2026; that month, FDA approved J&J’s ICOTYDE (icotrokinra), another product arising from Protagonist’s IL-23 receptor collaboration.[45] [33]

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