Novartis has stuck on a second deal to its partnership with molecular glue degrader biotech Monte Rosa Therapeutics that includes a $120 million upfront payment.
At the center of the latest deal is the exclusive license to an undisclosed discovery target, to which Monte Rosa will apply its molecular glue product engine, dubbed QuEEN. Novartis also secures an option to license another two programs from among the Boston biotech’s preclinical immunology portfolio.
If all of the programs work out, Monte Rosa could be in line for up to $5.7 billion across upfront, milestone and option fee payments, along with tiered royalties on global net sales.
This morning’s deal comes almost a year after Novartis handed $150 million to Monte Rosa for a clinical-stage molecular glue degrader also developed with the QuEEN platform. That agreement gave Novartis exclusive rights to other degraders that target the same protein, known as VAV1.
The biotech has since shared what it described as “highly encouraging” phase 1 data for the clinical-stage VAV1 therapy, dubbed MRT-2359, and is gearing up for a phase 2 study in castration-resistant prostate cancer. However, plans to develop the therapy in a wider range of cancers came unstuck after biomarker-positive patients were rarer than expected in some tumor types.
Another VAV1 therapy, dubbed MRT-6160, has since entered the clinic as a result of the collaboration. The drug is being aimed at multiple systemic and neurological autoimmune indications, such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and dermatological disorders.
“We are pleased to expand our collaboration with Monte Rosa Therapeutics, building on the strong foundation and progress established through the VAV1 program,” Fiona Marshall, Ph.D., President of Biomedical Research at Novartis, said in the Sept. 15 release.
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“This new agreement underscores our commitment to advancing targeted protein degradation as a promising approach to address immune-mediated diseases with high unmet need,” Marshall added. “We believe Monte Rosa’s QuEEN platform has the potential to uncover new insights in this field.”
Monte Rosa CEO Markus Warmuth, M.D., said money from the latest deal would help the biotech fund phase 2 readouts for the Novartis-partnered MRT-2359 and MRT-6160 as well as the biotech’s own NEK7-targeting MRT-8102 for inflammatory diseases.
“We are extremely excited to extend our relationship with Novartis beyond our previously announced VAV1 agreement given the strong progress made to advance MRT-6160 toward initiation of multiple phase 2 studies in immune-mediated diseases,” Warmuth said.
“We believe this new agreement further strengthens our relationship with Novartis, a recognized global leader in immune-mediated diseases, and reflects the expansive opportunity in the space for our highly selective and potent MGDs,” the CEO added.
Novartis isn’t the only Swiss pharma to have spied potential in QuEEN. Back in 2023, Roche signed a $50 million upfront deal to turn the platform to cancer and neurological disease targets.
