Nurix Therapeutics Announces Extension of Strategic Collaboration with Gilead Sciences
02 April 2024 - 10:00PM
Nurix Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: NRIX), a clinical stage
biopharmaceutical company developing targeted protein modulation
drugs designed to treat patients with cancer and inflammatory
diseases, today announced that Gilead Sciences has elected to
extend the research term of the companies’ ongoing collaboration,
originally established in 2019, by an additional two years.
“Gilead’s extension of the research period of this
agreement is a testament to the productivity of our collaboration
to date. Most importantly, it increases the opportunity for
additional clinical candidates and associated milestones to emerge
from our work together with the Gilead team,” said Gwenn M. Hansen,
Ph.D., chief scientific officer of Nurix. “Progress in the
collaboration has already yielded the first development candidate
GS-6791 (NX-0479), a potent, selective, oral IRAK4 degrader that
has potential applications in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis
and other inflammatory diseases, which Gilead licensed in March
2023. With this extended research term, we aim to deliver multiple
additional clinical candidates to advance a portfolio of novel
targeted protein degrader therapies with Gilead.”
Under the collaboration agreement, Nurix is
deploying its proprietary drug discovery platform to identify novel
agents that use E3 ligases to induce degradation of specified drug
targets. Gilead has an option to license drug candidates resulting
from the work, and Nurix retains co-development and co-detail
options on up to two programs in the United States, subject to
certain restrictions. For those programs that Nurix opts in to
co-develop and co-detail, the parties will split development costs
as well as profits and losses 50/50 for the United States, and
Nurix will be eligible to receive royalties on ex-U.S. sales and
reduced milestone payments. Upon signing the agreement in 2019,
Gilead made an upfront payment of $45.0 million. Through Nurix’s
fiscal year-end of November 30, 2023, Nurix has received an
additional $70.0 million including research milestones, the IRAK4
degrader license option exercise payment and additional payments.
In connection with today's announcement, Nurix will receive a $15.0
million extension fee and remains eligible for up to $73.5 million
in preclinical milestones and potential future licensing payments
and up to a total of $1.7 billion in potential future development,
regulatory, and sales milestones as well as royalties on future
products.
About Nurix Therapeutics, Inc.
Nurix Therapeutics is a clinical stage
biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and
commercialization of innovative small molecules and antibody
therapies based on the modulation of cellular protein levels as a
novel treatment approach for cancer, inflammatory conditions, and
other challenging diseases. Leveraging extensive expertise in E3
ligases together with proprietary DNA-encoded libraries, Nurix has
built DELigase, an integrated discovery platform, to identify and
advance novel drug candidates targeting E3 ligases, a broad class
of enzymes that can modulate proteins within the cell. Nurix’s drug
discovery approach is to either harness or inhibit the natural
function of E3 ligases within the ubiquitin-proteasome system to
selectively decrease or increase cellular protein levels. Nurix’s
wholly owned, clinical stage pipeline includes targeted protein
degraders of Bruton’s tyrosine kinase, a B-cell signaling protein,
and inhibitors of Casitas B-lineage lymphoma proto-oncogene B, an
E3 ligase that regulates activation of multiple immune cell types
including T cell and NK cells. Nurix is headquartered in San
Francisco, California. For additional information
visit http://www.nurixtx.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains statements that relate
to future events and expectations and as such constitute
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When or if used in this
press release, the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,”
“estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “outlook,” “plan,”
“predict,” “should,” “will,” and similar expressions and their
variants, as they relate to Nurix, may identify forward-looking
statements. All statements that reflect Nurix’s expectations,
assumptions or projections about the future, other than statements
of historical fact, are forward-looking statements, including,
without limitation, statements regarding: Nurix’s future financial
or business performance; Nurix’s plans with respect to its
collaboration with Gilead Sciences; the potential benefits of and
Nurix’s expectations with respect to the extension of the research
period under Nurix’s collaboration with Gilead Sciences, including
the potential achievement of milestone and license payments; the
extent to which GS-6791 (NX-0479), future development candidates
and targeted protein degraders generally may address a range of
diseases; and the potential advantages of Nurix’s scientific
approach and DELigase™ platform. Forward-looking statements reflect
Nurix’s current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions regarding
the future. Although Nurix believes the expectations and
assumptions reflected in such forward-looking statements are
reasonable, Nurix can give no assurance that they will prove to be
correct. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future
performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and changes in
circumstances that are difficult to predict, which could cause
Nurix’s actual activities and results to differ materially from
those expressed in any forward-looking statement. Such risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to: (i) the ability of
each party to perform its obligations under the Nurix-Gilead
collaboration; (ii) whether the parties will be able to
successfully conduct and complete preclinical development, clinical
development and commercialization of any drug candidates under the
Nurix-Gilead collaboration; (iii) the unexpected emergence of
adverse events or other undesirable side effects during preclinical
and clinical development; (iv) whether Nurix will be able to fund
development activities and achieve development goals, including
those under the Nurix-Gilead collaboration; (v) risks and
uncertainties relating to the timing and receipt of payments from
Nurix’s collaboration partners, including milestone payments and
royalties on future potential product sales; and (vi) other risks
and uncertainties described under the heading “Risk Factors” in
Nurix’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
November 30, 2023, and other SEC filings. Accordingly, readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements. The statements in this press release speak only as of
the date of this press release, even if subsequently made available
by Nurix on its website or otherwise. Nurix disclaims any intention
or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements,
whether in response to new information, future events, or
otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
Contacts:
InvestorsJason Kantor, Ph.D.Nurix
Therapeuticsir@nurixtx.com
Elizabeth Wolffe, Ph.D.Wheelhouse Life Science
Advisorslwolffe@wheelhouselsa.com
MediaAljanae ReynoldsWheelhouse
Life Science Advisorsareynolds@wheelhouselsa.com
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