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January 5, 2018

Arvinas inks Pfizer licensing deal worth up to $830M

Photo | Contributed Arvinas CEO John Houston
By Natalie Missakian

New Haven biotech Arvinas LLC said Thursday it will collaborate with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. to develop a new class of drugs that attack disease-causing cellular proteins.

The multi-year licensing agreement, potentially worth $830 million, is aimed at discovering and developing drugs to treat multiple diseases using Arvinas’ PROTAC technology – small molecules that destroy harmful proteins.

Based on research conducted at Yale University by Dr. Craig Crews, Arvinas’ founder and chief scientific officer, PROTACs (short for proteolysis-targeting chimeras) are part of a new class of therapies focused on so-called protein degradation — which researchers say hold particular promise for cancer treatment.

“Protein degradation is an area of considerable interest for us, and we look forward to working with Arvinas to determine the potential applicability of this approach across multiple therapeutic areas,” John Ludwig, head of medicinal sciences for Pfizer, said in a statement.

Under the pact, Arvinas will drive discovery efforts, while Pfizer will develop and commercialize any products emerging from the alliance, both companies said in a statement.

In addition to $830 million in upfront and potential milestone payments, Arvinas is eligible for tiered royalties on sales of any drug resulting from the partnership. Full financial terms were not disclosed.

“This marks another key milestone as we continue to expand the use of our targeted protein degradation platform and advance Arvinas’ first candidates into the clinic,” Arvinas CEO John Houston said. Arvinas also has partnerships with pharmaceutical leaders Genentech Inc. and Merck & Co.

Natalie Missakian can be reached at news@newhavenbiz.com

 

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