Biotechs are increasingly looking to leverage a mechanism cells use to get rid of unwanted proteins to drug targets previously considered out of reach. Roche ponied up $135 million upfront this week to work with Vividion Therapeutics in search of small molecules that use that “protein degradation” process to do just that.
The drug discovery agreement is seeking small molecule drugs that can hit proteins considered “undruggable” by designing therapies that prompt the proteasome—the cellular machinery that disposes of waste—to get rid of problematic proteins. Under the agreement the companies plan to focus on a class of proteins known as E3 ligases,… Read more »
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