Biogen Bets Big with $14.5B Deal to Co-Develop Molecular Glue Degraders for Alzheimer’s, Rare Neurological and Immune Diseases

On October 29 local time, Biogen and Neomorph announced a collaboration to discover and develop molecular glue degraders for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, rare neurological disorders, and immune diseases. Under the terms of the agreement, Biogen and Neomorph will collaborate to identify, validate, and optimize small-molecule molecular glue degraders targeting several high-priority targets, with Biogen responsible for advancing clinical candidates through further development and potential commercialization.

Under the terms of the agreement, Neomorph will receive an upfront payment and is eligible for milestone payments based on the progress of collaboration at various stages. These include certain preclinical milestones recently paid, as well as future clinical, regulatory, commercial, and sales milestones, with a total potential value of up to $1.45 billion (approximately RMB 10.343 billion).

Neomorph, founded in 2020 and headquartered in San Diego, California, is an innovative pharmaceutical company focused on the field of molecular glue degraders, dedicated to discovering and developing therapies for “undruggable targets.” The company was initially co-founded by the venture capital firm Deerfield Management Company and scientific founders Phil Chamberlain, Eric Fische, Benjamin Eber, and Scott Armstrong, and announced $109 million in Series A financing in its inaugural year.

Among the four scientific founders of Neomorph, three are seasoned experts in the field of protein degradation. Phil Chamberlain made significant contributions to elucidating the mechanism of action of thalidomide analogs and subsequently led the establishment of the cereblon modulation platform at the pharmaceutical giant Celgene, marking a pioneering achievement in the field of molecular glues. Eric Fischer is Co-Director of the Center for Protein Degradation at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; his laboratory has contributed to understanding the efficacy and off-target activities of thalidomide and its analogs and has conducted extensive work in the development of small-molecule degraders. Benjamin Ebert is a Professor at Harvard Medical School, Director of Medical Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. His laboratory demonstrated that the thalidomide derivative lenalidomide binds to the CRL4-CRBN E3 ligase, inducing the degradation of specific substrates.

Neomorph’s robust background is likely a key reason why multinational corporations (MNCs) have consecutively chosen to partner with the company. In fact, this marks the second time this year that Neomorph has secured a collaboration worth over $1 billion with an MNC in the field of molecular glues.

In February this year, Neomorph announced a collaboration and licensing agreement with Novo Nordisk for the discovery, development, and commercialization of multiple molecular glue degraders. Neomorph will lead target-specific drug discovery and preclinical activities, while Novo Nordisk will obtain exclusive rights for further clinical development and commercialization of the collaborative projects. Under the terms of the agreement, Neomorph will receive an upfront payment, near-term milestone payments, and research and development funding. Neomorph is also eligible to receive future clinical, commercial, and sales milestone payments, bringing the potential total transaction value across multiple targets to up to $1.46 billion (approximately RMB 10.5 billion), plus tiered royalties.

Notably, this transaction marks Novo Nordisk’s first foray into the field of molecular glue degraders. Coincidentally, public records indicate that Biogen’s collaboration with Neomorph also represents Biogen’s first-ever entry into the molecular glue degrader space. Furthermore, to date, Neomorph remains the only molecular glue company that has publicly announced collaborations with both multinational corporations (MNCs).

Under this collaboration, Biogen and Neomorph will leverage Neomorph’s proprietary molecular glue discovery platform to accelerate the identification and validation of novel small-molecule therapeutic molecular glue degraders, aiming to discover and develop molecular glue degraders for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, rare neurological disorders, and immune diseases. Currently, Neomorph has not disclosed any of its products entering clinical stages.

Regarding this collaboration, Dr. Jane Grogan, Head of Research at Biogen, stated, “As part of our strategy for exploring the unknown, Biogen is committed to investing in novel approaches to unlock undruggable biological targets. The partnership with Neomorph reflects a strategic move into new frontiers—combining our internal expertise in drug development with cutting-edge external innovation teams to create clinically meaningful therapies for patients.”

Dr. Phil Chamberlain, Co-founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Neomorph, stated, “Neomorph’s molecular glue degrader platform represents a unique approach to drug discovery. We are delighted to partner with Biogen, a leader in the fields of Alzheimer’s disease, rare diseases, and immunological disorders, to explore the potential and value of our technology in these therapeutic areas.”

According to public records, this marks the third major collaboration in the field of molecular glue degraders disclosed this month.

On October 15, TRIANA announced a strategic collaboration and license agreement with Pfizer to discover novel molecular glue degraders targeting multiple proteins across various disease areas, including oncology. Under the terms of the agreement, TRIANA will receive an upfront payment of $49 million and is eligible for over $1.5 billion in potential future milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties. TRIANA will leverage its target-first and proximity-first molecular glue discovery platform to identify novel molecular glue degraders against multiple targets across a range of disease areas, including oncology.

On October 28, Monte Rosa announced that it had entered into an exclusive global license agreement with Novartis for the development and commercialization of VAV1-targeting molecular glue degraders, including the investigational therapy MRT-6160. Under the terms of the agreement, Novartis has agreed to pay Monte Rosa an upfront payment of $150 million. Monte Rosa is also eligible to receive up to $2.1 billion in development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments, starting from Phase II studies, as well as tiered royalties on net sales outside the United States.

Including the $1.45 billion transaction amount from this deal, the cumulative value of collaborations in the molecular glue degrader field this month has reached $5.249 billion (approximately RMB 37.443 billion).

In addition to the aforementioned MNCs, other multinational corporations and large pharmaceutical companies—including BMS, Roche, Merck & Co., Eli Lilly, Sanofi, Bayer, Takeda, and Eisai—are also aggressively vying for dominance in the molecular glue field.The reason why MNCs have collectively bet on this field is essentially because, although molecular glues are highly ideal, the number of molecular glue degraders discovered to date remains scarce. Their discovery has been largely serendipitous, lacking systematic strategies for identification and design. Therefore, large pharmaceutical companies aim to invest in new technology platforms to accelerate the discovery of molecular glues.

The excitement surrounding molecular glues has also spread to China, where stories of Chinese biotech companies taking their molecular glue innovations global are unfolding.For example, in May this year, Jiayue Pharma entered into a global exclusive licensing agreement with US-based Erasca for JYP0015, a Pan-RAS(ON) inhibitor, valued at $345 million; in the same month, Dage Biotechnology partnered with Takeda Pharmaceutical to discover, validate, and optimize molecular glue degraders against specific disease targets selected by Takeda, leveraging its GlueXplorer platform, with the total potential deal value reaching up to $1.2 billion.

Although the field of molecular glue degraders still faces significant challenges, technological optimization and accumulating research will continue to broaden their therapeutic applications, extending from oncology to autoimmune diseases, neurodegenerative disorders, and other areas. With the support of multinational corporations (MNCs), the molecular glue degrader sector is poised for accelerated development, bringing more accessible therapies to patients.

References:

PharmaCube Pro, “After PROTACs, Molecular Glues Become Hot! This Emerging Company Raises $109 Million in Series A Financing—What Is Its Unique Background?”