In a dynamic move, Roche has forged its second major agreement in the realm of molecular glue technology, this time committing an upfront payment of $50 million to Monte Rosa Therapeutics. The partnership centers around Monte Rosa’s innovative QuEEN platform, poised to revolutionize the targeting of diseases previously deemed untreatable, particularly in the domains of cancer and neurological disorders.
Monte Rosa is set to harness the molecular glue degrader platform to develop therapies for targets that were once considered impervious to pharmacological intervention. The bold venture extends far beyond the initial investment, with Monte Rosa standing to gain milestone payments that could potentially exceed $2 billion, in addition to royalties if their groundbreaking therapies find their way to the market. Roche also holds the option to broaden the collaboration to encompass additional targets within the next two years, thereby entailing further financial commitments.
The delineation of responsibilities in this collaboration is notable. Monte Rosa will spearhead the discovery and preclinical phases, taking the research endeavors to a defined juncture. Subsequently, Roche will exclusively assume the development of these candidates through the advanced preclinical stages and onward to clinical trials.
CEO Markus Warmuth, M.D., expressed optimism about this collaboration, citing the QuEEN discovery engine as a vital catalyst for Monte Rosa’s achievements thus far, particularly in the development of their highly selective MGDs (molecular glue degraders) making headway into clinical applications. He emphasized that this partnership will expedite the expansion of their platform into the fields of neuroscience and additional areas of oncology.
Roche’s foray into the molecular glue arena comes less than a month after a similar agreement with Boston-based Orionis, which secured $47 million upfront, and the potential for $2 billion in milestone payments. This collaboration revolved around Orionis’ Allo-Glue platform, demonstrating Roche’s keen interest in this cutting-edge technology.
James Sabry, M.D., Ph.D., global head of pharma partnering at Roche, lauded molecular glue degraders as a potent class of small molecules with the ability to target disease-related proteins that conventional approaches have struggled to tackle. He anticipates that this partnership with Monte Rosa will unlock new therapeutic possibilities by focusing on high-value targets within oncology and neuroscience.
In a double celebration for Monte Rosa, they proudly announced a significant milestone—what they claim to be the first-ever demonstration of a molecular glue degrader’s effectiveness against a solid tumor. The GSPT1-directed candidate, MRT-2359, exhibited a remarkable reduction in GSPT1 protein levels within patient tumors, offering promising indications of tumor size reduction, based on interim data from a phase 1 dose-escalation study.
Warmuth expressed great optimism regarding the safety profile, depth of pharmacodynamic modulation, and early evidence of anti-tumor activity associated with MRT-2359 in patients with biomarker-positive cancers.
It’s worth noting that Roche is not the sole pharmaceutical giant venturing into the realm of molecular glue technology. Bristol Myers Squibb recently joined forces with San Francisco-based SyntheX in October 2022 to develop and commercialize new small-molecule degraders. Merck & Co. also embraced this innovative field through a partnership with Proxygen earlier this year, underscoring the industry’s collective drive to explore the potential of molecular glue as a novel therapeutic approach.
