VantAI, Inc.

Takeda joined forces with Degron Therapeutics to develop molecular glue degraders for multiple targets in oncology, neuroscience and inflammation. The deal, announced Thursday, is potentially worth up to $1.2 billion, including an undisclosed upfront payment from the Japanese firm.The companies will utilise Degron's GlueXplorer platform to identify, validate and optimise molecular glue degraders for specific therapeutic targets selected by Takeda. Upon reaching a certain stage of advancement, the projects would be transitioned from the Chinese pharma to Takeda for further development and commercialisation.Chris Arendt, Takeda’s head of research, noted that the collaboration “not only adds an innovative new platform to our drug discovery toolbox, it is also an example of cutting-edge innovation emerging in the exciting China biotech sector.” Founded in 2021, Degron raised $22 million via a Series A financing the following year to fund its own pipeline, which includes five oncology programmes.Along with the initial payment, Degron is eligible for milestones and tiered sales royalties on products stemming from the collaboration, which can also be expanded to include further targets. Meanwhile, Takeda will make an equity investment in Degron. Molecular glue degraders continue to garner interest, with a number of recent deals in the space. In February, Bristol Myers Squibb agreed to use VantAI's generative AI platform to design molecular glues, while Novo Nordisk entered the field via a deal with Neomorph. For related analysis, see Spotlight On: BMS leads big pharma in protein degradation deals.ASCO Daily Digest – your go-to-source for the key developments emerging from this year's American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting. Exclusively for PLUS subscribers – sign up here!

Takeda has inked an exclusive license agreement with Shanghai-based Degron Therapeutics to discover and develop novel molecular glue degraders targeting oncology, neuroscience and inflammation. Under the terms of the deal, Degron will receive an upfront payment and potential milestone payments totaling up to $1.2 billion.The collaboration will leverage Degron's GlueXplorer platform to identify, validate, and optimize molecular glue degraders for therapeutic targets selected by Takeda. Projects that reach a certain stage of advancement will be transitioned to Takeda for further development and commercialization. Takeda will also make an equity investment in Degron, which retains full ownership of its pipeline programs. The agreement includes options to expand the collaboration to more targets. Founded in 2021, Degron uses its proprietary GlueXplorer platform to develop molecular glue degraders for previously undruggable disease targets. The platform includes a diverse compound library, screening approaches, and extensive validation assays, supported by an AI algorithm to predict novel targets and accelerate discovery. The industry has shown a rising interest in molecular glues. Back in February, BMS teamed with generative AI company VantAI to find new molecular glues for targeted therapeutic purposes. Weeks later, Neomorph and Novo Nordisk announced a potential $1.46 billion collaboration to develop molecular glue degraders targeting cardiometabolic diseases and rare conditions. Last year, Austria-based biotech Proxygen signed a research collaboration and license agreement with Merck to jointly develop molecular glue degraders for therapeutic targets. Currently, only thalidomide and its analogues have been approved by the FDA. But with key players entering the ring and many clinical trials underway, the molecular glue garden sector is bound to bloom soon.

Novo Nordisk signed its first protein degradation deal Monday and is looking to take the molecular glue modality – most often used in oncology – into the cardiometabolic and rare disease spaces. The Dutch drugmaker partnered with Neomorph in a multi-target deal worth $1.46 billion in biobucks.Neomorph will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and R&D funding, and is eligible for near-term, clinical, commercial, and sales milestones, plus tiered royalties.Under the deal – the recently launched biotech’s first – Neomorph will lead discovery and preclinical activities against selected targets, and Novo Nordisk will have the right to exclusively pursue further clinical development and commercialization of the compounds.Neomorph, created by Deerfield Management company, debuted in 2020 with a $109-million series A and a platform to develop the next-generation of protein degraders, called “molecular glue” drugs.Protein degraders were developed as a way to target and destroy so-called “undruggable” proteins that lack binding pockets suitable for small molecules, or have limited binding efficacy.However, E3 ubiquitin ligase-triggering protein degraders – which make up the bulk of programmes in the clinic – still require a druggable binding pocket on the target protein, whereas molecular glue drugs – like thalidomide and indisulam – are able to bypass this requirement. For more, see Spotlight On: Targeted protein degradation grows up.Degradation momentum Novo’s is the second biopharma bet on molecular glues this month, and it’s worth twice as much as the preceding deal. Bristol Myers Squibb’s partnership with VantAI to use the latter’s generative AI platform to design molecular glues could be worth as much as $674 million. The deal is at least the sixth in the past two years for the pharma, the current leader in number of protein degradation deals. For more, see Spotlight On: BMS leads big pharma in protein degradation deals.Also making waves in degradation is Firefly Bio, which emerged from stealth this month with $94 million and a platform to develop degrader-antibody conjugates (DACs), which use antibodies as a homing mechanism to more specifically deliver the degrader component.