Roche's Genentech is sticking with Orionis Biosciences, handing over $105 million upfront as part of its second deal with the molecular glue biotech.
The latest multiyear collaboration will be focused specifically on small-molecule monovalent glue medicines aimed at “novel and challenging targets” in oncology, according to a May 21 release. Orionis will oversee the discovery and optimization of these molecular glues before passing the baton to Genentech for later-stage preclinical, clinical development and beyond.
As well as the $105 million upfront fee, Orionis will be eligible for research, development, commercial and net sales milestone payments that could top $2 billion, alongside tiered royalties should a cancer therapy make it to market.
Molecular glues are small molecules used to stabilize the interaction between two proteins that don’t typically interact. Orionis’ Allo-Glue platform uses an array of chemical biology tech to design and optimize small molecules that promote or induce interactions of proteins in living cells.
Today’s deal follows an agreement sealed between the two companies back in 2023, when Genentech handed over $47 million to work on small-molecule medicines for “challenging targets” ranging from oncology to neurodegeneration.
“We are thrilled about this second collaboration with Genentech, which expands our collaborative efforts in applying induced proximity concepts to include molecular glue types beyond targeted protein degraders,” Orionis CEO Niko Kley said in this morning’s release.
“The expansion of our existing strategic alliance underlines a strong alignment in vision for molecular glues, and the excellent work by both teams during the past year,” Kley added.
Molecular glue tech—including targeted protein degraders—has been behind a wave of recent pharma dealmaking. This year alone has already seen Eli Lilly pen a $1.25 billion biobucks agreement with Magnet Biomedicine, AbbVie ink a $1.64 billion deal with Neomorph and Blueprint Medicines revise its pact with VantAI.
“Molecular glues, including protein degraders and non-degraders, are an exciting therapeutic modality, providing access to disease-related proteins that have proven challenging and elusive to more traditional treatment modalities,” Boris Zaïtra, head of Roche corporate business development, said in Wednesday’s release. “This new collaboration with Orionis has the potential to significantly enhance our innovation to bring transformative cancer medicines to patients.”