Just weeks after signing a targeted RNA degrader deal with Arrakis Inc., Amgen Inc. has enlisted protein degrader specialist Plexium Inc. to a new deal in the high-profile field. "We're on the cusp of a new era of drug discovery, where medicines could function very differently than conventional ones do today," said Amgen's senior vice president of global research, Ray Deshaies.
Avilar Therapeutics Inc. emerged from stealth with a $60 million seed round and plans to apply a targeted protein degradation technology to a large swath of extracellular proteins associated with disease.
Eli Lilly and Co. tapped Lycia Therapeutics Inc. in a potential $1.6 billion-plus protein-degradation deal that brings $35 million up front and the remainder in would-be preclinical, development and commercial milestone payments, along with mid-single to low double-digit royalties. The multiyear research tie-up and licensing agreement strives to discover, develop and commercialize targeted therapeutics based on Lycia's lysosomal targeting chimera, or Lytac, technology.
LONDON – Mission Therapeutics Ltd. has honed down a collection of 100-odd deubiquitylating (DUB) enzymes, to identify two that degrade misfolded proteins in Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases, triggering a $20 million milestone from partner Abbvie Inc.
The BCL6 degrader BI-3802 works by inducing polymerization of its target protein, which in turn triggers the addition of ubiquitin tags on the polymerized structure and degradation by the proteasome, scientists reported in the Nov. 18, 2020, issue of Nature.
By transplanting a plant-specific degradation pathway controlled by a phytohormone, auxin, into non-plant cells, researchers at the Japanese National Institutes of Genetics have developed a rapid protein degradation process – the auxin-inducible degron (AID) technology.
The industry's expanding quest for protein degraders grew a little larger on July 9 with Sanofi SA tapping Kymera Therapeutics Inc. to advance two new protein degrader programs, one of which will target IRAK4 in patients with immune-inflammatory diseases and another for an undisclosed target. Each program could yield multiple therapies.
BOSTON – At the AACR-NCI-EORTC Molecular Targets meeting in October, speakers in the second plenary session gave examples both of how far protein degradation has come as a pharmacological approach, and how far it could still go.
