Vertex & Kymera Therapeutics Establish Strategic Collaboration to Discover & Develop Targeted Protein Degradation Medicines f...
15 May 2019 - 10:30PM
Business Wire
-Multi-year collaboration leveraging Kymera’s proprietary
targeted protein degradation platform to develop novel
medicines-
-Kymera to receive $70 million upfront, including equity
investment, and potential additional milestone and royalty payments
for up to six programs in the collaboration-
Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) and Kymera
Therapeutics today announced that the two companies have entered
into a four-year strategic research and development collaboration
to advance small molecule protein degraders against multiple
targets. The collaboration will leverage Kymera’s expertise in
targeted protein degradation and its proprietary Pegasus™ drug
discovery platform and Vertex’s scientific, clinical, and
regulatory capabilities to accelerate the development of
first-in-class medicines for people with serious diseases.
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“This collaboration with Kymera will enhance our drug discovery
capabilities and support our strategy of investing in scientific
innovation to develop transformative medicines for serious
diseases,” said Mark Bunnage, Senior Vice President and Site Head,
Boston Research at Vertex. “We’ve been impressed by the Kymera
team’s depth of knowledge in the field and compelling technology
platform, and are excited to bring our research and development
expertise to this promising new therapeutic modality.”
“We are thrilled to partner with Vertex to combine their deep
understanding of human biology and genetics with Kymera’s
state-of-the-art protein degrader platform,” said Laurent Audoly,
Ph.D., President and CEO, Kymera Therapeutics. “This strategic
partnership will broaden the application of targeted protein
degradation to address serious diseases beyond cancer with limited
or no treatment options. This fits perfectly with Kymera’s vision
to build a platform that is disease agnostic and delivers the
broadest possible impact.”
About the CollaborationUnder the terms of the four-year
agreement, Vertex will pay Kymera $70 million upfront including an
equity investment in the company. Kymera will conduct research
activities in multiple targets under the collaboration. Upon
designation of a clinical development candidate, Vertex has the
option to exclusively license molecules against the designated
target. Kymera is also eligible to receive more than $1 billion in
potential payments based upon the successful achievement of
specified research, development, regulatory, and commercial
milestones for up to six programs optioned as part of the
collaboration. In addition, Vertex will pay tiered royalties on
future net sales on any products that may result from this
collaboration.
About Kymera TherapeuticsKymera Therapeutics is a
biotechnology company pioneering a transformative new approach to
treating previously untreatable diseases. The company is advancing
the field of targeted protein degradation, accessing the body’s
innate protein recycling machinery to degrade dysregulated,
disease-causing proteins. Powered by Pegasus™, a game-changing
integrated degradation platform, Kymera is accelerating drug
discovery with an unmatched ability to target and degrade the most
intractable of proteins, and advance new treatment options for
patients. For more information visit www.kymeratx.com.
About Pegasus™Pegasus™ is Kymera Therapeutics’
proprietary protein degradation platform, created by its team of
experienced drug hunters to improve the effectiveness of targeted
protein degradation and generate a pipeline of novel therapeutics
for previously undruggable diseases. The platform consists of
informatics driven target identification, novel E3 ligases,
proprietary ternary complex predictive modeling capabilities and
degradation tools.
About VertexVertex is a global biotechnology company that
invests in scientific innovation to create transformative medicines
for people with serious and life-threatening diseases. In addition
to clinical development programs in CF, Vertex has more than a
dozen ongoing research programs focused on the underlying
mechanisms of other serious diseases.
Founded in 1989 in Cambridge, Mass., Vertex's headquarters is
now located in Boston's Innovation District. Today, the company has
research and development sites and commercial offices in the United
States, Europe, Canada, Australia and Latin America. Vertex is
consistently recognized as one of the industry's top places to
work, including being named to Science magazine's Top Employers in
the life sciences ranking for nine years in a row.
For additional information and the latest updates from the
company, please visit www.vrtx.com.
(VRTX-GEN)
Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsThis
press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including,
without limitation, Dr. Bunnage’s statements in the second
paragraph of the press release, Dr. Audoly’s statements in the
third paragraph of the press release, and statements regarding
future activities of the parties pursuant to the collaboration.
While Vertex believes the forward-looking statements contained in
this press release are accurate, these forward-looking statements
represent Vertex's beliefs only as of the date of this press
release and there are a number of factors that could cause actual
events or results to differ materially from those indicated by such
forward-looking statements. Those risks and uncertainties include,
among other things, Vertex may not realize the anticipated benefits
of the collaboration, and the other risks listed under Risk Factors
in Vertex's annual report and quarterly reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission and available through the
company's website at www.vrtx.com. Vertex disclaims any obligation
to update the information contained in this press release as new
information becomes available.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190515005135/en/
Vertex Contacts:Investors:Michael Partridge,
617-341-6108orEric Rojas, 617-961-7205orZach Barber,
617-341-6470
Media:Heather Nichols, 617-341-6992mediainfo@vrtx.com
Kymera Contact:Lissette SteeleVerge Scientific
Communicationslsteele@vergescientific.com202.930.4762
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