Almac Discovery in ubiquitin specific protease collaboration with Genentech
Almac Discovery’s novel, potent and selective small molecule inhibitors will be the starting point for a two-year joint research programme
Almac Discovery, a biopharmaceutical company focused on identifying and developing innovative therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, has signed a research and licensing agreement with Genentech to discover and develop small molecule inhibitors of a ubiquitin specific protease (USP) target.
Under the terms of the agreement, Almac Discovery will receive an upfront payment of US$14.5m and will be eligible to receive up to $349m in payments based on achievement of certain predetermined milestones as well as escalating tiered royalties on potential commercial sales of multiple products to the target by Genentech.
Almac Discovery’s novel, potent and selective small molecule inhibitors will be the starting point for a two-year joint research programme funded by Genentech. Genentech will be responsible for all pre-clinical and clinical development and commercialisation of products arising from the collaboration.
'Inhibitors of ubiquitin specific proteases have been a highly sought after, yet elusive drug class, proving difficult to identify despite significant efforts from both pharmaceutical and biotech companies,' said Tim Harrison, Vice President Drug Discovery, Almac Discovery. 'Ubiquitin specific proteases have been shown to play an important role in a number of key oncogenic pathways, and the identification of potent, selective inhibitors provides an exciting opportunity to fully exploit this novel biology, as well as further demonstrating the chemical tractability of this important target class.'
