Takeda is adding the popular “molecular glue” approach to its R&D capabilities in an up to $1.2 billion collaboration with a young biotech.
The Japanese drugmaker, which is undergoing a broad restructuring, is partnering with three-year-old Degron Therapeutics, which has roots in Shanghai and San Diego, the companies said Thursday. The duo plans to create new molecular glue degraders across undisclosed diseases in three of Takeda’s four core therapeutic areas: oncology, neuroscience and inflammation.
A Takeda spokesperson confirmed it’s the company’s first collaboration in the molecular glue field, which has already caught the attention of other drugmakers, including AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Roche and more recently, Novo Nordisk.
Molecular glues help turn two protein foes into inseparable friends. The newfound friends then kickstart a process to destroy unwanted proteins that have accumulated to the point where they can lead to cancer or other diseases.
Chris ArendtThe tie-up expands Takeda’s “drug discovery toolbox,” Takeda chief scientific officer Chris Arendt said in a release. He added that it is “also an example of cutting-edge innovation emerging in the exciting China biotech sector.”
The companies did not disclose the breakdown between upfront payments and biobucks, which could arrive after certain preclinical, clinical and commercial milestones are hit. Takeda will also make an equity investment in Degron, which is currently raising another financing round, according to co-founding CEO Lily Zou.
The 35-employee biotech has raised $34.5 million to date, including a $22 million Series A disclosed in June 2022, according to its website.
“We have 10,000 compounds that we designed and synthesized ourselves that are structurally differentiated from the other [molecular glue degraders] we can see in patents or publications,” Zou said.
Degron is approaching the clinic with its lead internal program for undisclosed cancers. The biotech has other projects in oncology, inflammation, metabolic diseases and rare genetic diseases, and it could ink additional pharma partnerships, she added.