Novartis adds another degrader, this time from Monte Rosa
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The latest in a string of molecular glue degrader deals is a licensing transaction between Novartis AG (SIX:NOVN; NYSE:NVS) and Monte Rosa Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:GLUE), with the pharma paying $150 million up front for exclusive worldwide rights to a Phase I asset with a first-in-class target for autoimmune diseases. Monte Rosa is eligible for up to $2.1 billion in development, regulatory and sales milestones for the VAV1-targeting molecular glue degrader MRT-6160.
VAV1’s role in autoimmune disorders has been supported by both observational human genetic data and perturbation screens in human cells, but the guanine-exchange factor (GEF), which mediates both T cell and B cell activation via GEF signaling and scaffolding functions, has been difficult to drug with conventional inhibitors. Monte Rosa has presented preclinical data showing MRT-6160, which forms a ternary complex between VAV1 and the E3 ubiquitin ligase cereblon, attenuates TCR and BCR signaling in primary human lymphocytes, and decreases disease pathology in mouse models of collagen-induced arthritis and T cell-induced colitis...