AstraZeneca has paid $25 million to pick up a preclinical EGFR degrader that was at the center of its existing pact with Pinetree Therapeutics.
The U.K.-based Big Pharma penned an agreement with Pinetree back in 2024 that saw AstraZeneca deliver $45 million in upfront and near-term payments for an exclusive option to license the asset. Pinetree could ultimately be in line for up to around $500 million in milestone payments along with royalties on net sales should the EGFR degrader eventually make it to market.
Pinetree developed the therapy using its AbReptor TPD platform, which is designed to degrade membrane-bound and extracellular proteins to discover new therapeutics to combat drug resistance in oncology. The asset that AstraZeneca is licensing is designed to target EGFR-expressing tumors, including those with EGFR mutations.
Pinetree said AstraZeneca’s decision “follows encouraging preclinical progress and represents an important milestone in the collaboration between the two companies.”
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech is led by Hojuhn Song, Ph.D., who previously served as a project team leader for the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research, which was renamed to Novartis Biomedical Research last year. Pinetree raised $47 million in a series B last October.
“This milestone marks an important validation of our AbReptor platform,” Song said in an April 29 release.
“We are pleased that AstraZeneca has exercised its option to advance PTX-299, and we look forward to seeing them continue the development of this promising therapeutic candidate,” the CEO added. “By combining Pinetree’s breakthrough protein degradation platform with AstraZeneca’s global expertise in cancer drug development, we believe that PTX-299 has the potential to bring a meaningful new treatment option to patients with EGFR-driven cancers.”
AstraZeneca is no stranger to EGFR-focused drugs, marketing the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor Tagrisso for non-small cell lung cancer. The blockbuster oncology med brought in $1.8 billion in the first three months of this year.
