Fledgling biotech Ternarx Pty Ltd. has emerged from stealth mode and is the first of its kind in Australia to develop targeted protein degrader technology to destroy disease-causing proteins that cannot be targeted by conventional drugs. The Melbourne-based company will initially develop targeted protein degraders against currently undrugged transcription factors in cancers with significant unmet need, starting with neuroblastoma and prostate cancer.

Shanghai- and San Diego-based Degron Therapeutics Inc. secured a potential $1.2 billion deal with Tokyo-headquartered Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. May 23 for a multitarget collaboration and exclusive licensing agreement for molecular glue degraders. “It is a breakthrough technology in the small-molecule drug discovery field,” Degron CEO Lily Zou told BioWorld. “People talk about cell and gene therapy, but small molecules are still the mainstream of drug discovery, [with] more reach.”

Shanghai- and San Diego-based Degron Therapeutics Inc. secured a potential $1.2 billion deal with Tokyo-headquartered Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. May 23 for a multitarget collaboration and exclusive licensing agreement for molecular glue degraders. “It is a breakthrough technology in the small-molecule drug discovery field,” Degron CEO Lily Zou told BioWorld. “People talk about cell and gene therapy, but small molecules are still the mainstream of drug discovery, [with] more reach.”

Neosphere Biotechnologies GmbH has entered into a collaboration with Kymera Therapeutics Inc. that seeks to unlock undrugged or poorly drugged disease-causing protein targets that can be addressed by targeted protein degradation.

Amphista Therapeutics Ltd. has announced new datasets with its next-generation bifunctional protein degraders demonstrating in vivo efficacy and the ability to target and degrade proteins in the central nervous system (CNS).

Salarius Pharmaceuticals Inc. has received FDA clearance of its IND application to initiate a phase I trial with SP-3164 in patients with relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).

Salarius Pharmaceuticals Inc. has completed two GLP toxicology studies with its targeted protein degrader SP-3164, with no unexpected safety findings reported. These results will be included in an IND application that the company plans to submit to the FDA this quarter.

Glubio Therapeutics Inc. has raised $22 million in a series A+ round to support the development of its targeted protein degradation drugs. With the investment, Glubio expects to file INDs for two molecular glue degraders for hematological malignancies in early 2023 in both China and the U.S.