Proxygen Announces Strategic Collaboration with Merck to Develop Molecular Glue Degraders
2.6.2022 18:00:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
Proxygen, a leader in the discovery and development of molecular glue degraders, announced today that the company has entered into a strategic multi-year research collaboration and license agreement with Merck. Proxygen is eligible to receive up to €495 million ($554 million at the average USD/EUR FX rate of Q1 2022) in continuous R&D funding, upfront and success-based pre-clinical, clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestones, as well as additional royalty payments. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will jointly identify and develop molecular glue degraders up to a clinical candidate stage.
“We are incredibly excited to start this long-term collaboration with Merck, a globally recognized player in the pharmaceutical industry that shares our drive towards dynamic innovation for the benefit of patients. The partnership validates the unique potential of Proxygen’s glue degrader platform and strategically leverages our common strengths in the targeted protein degradation field,” says Dr. Bernd Boidol, CEO of Proxygen.
Molecular glue degraders re-direct the cell’s own quality control machinery towards disease-causing proteins, inducing their selective and complete elimination. Because of their capability to modulate protein classes that would not be amenable to traditional drug discovery approaches, glue degraders hold the promise of unlocking a large proportion of the undruggable target space and delivering innovative therapies for diseases with high medical need. The lack of scalable discovery strategies has however so far hindered the full exploitation of the clinical potential of molecular glue degraders.
By streamlining and fully integrating cutting-edge genomic, proteomic, and biochemical technologies, Proxygen has successfully developed a highly versatile glue degrader discovery engine. The ligase-agnostic screening approach enables the specific and unbiased identification of molecular glue degraders against difficult-to-drug or completely undruggable targets at large scale. The vast amounts of know-how and data generated in the discovery and chemical optimization of degrader molecules continuously improve the understanding of this novel modality and contribute to Proxygen’s pioneering role in the molecular glue degrader space.
About Proxygen
Founded in 2020, Proxygen is focused on the discovery and development of molecular glue degraders against targets of unmet medical need across various indications. While advancing its internal programs towards clinical development, the company also maintains strategic partnerships to co-create synergies along the drug development pipeline. With its headquarters and laboratory operations in Vienna, Austria, Proxygen employs talent both locally and remotely all over Europe. For more information, please visit www.proxygen.com.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220601005002/en/
Contact information
Proxygen GmbH
Bernd Boidol
Chief Executive Officer
office@proxygen.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
ChargePoint Accelerates European Growth Strategy with Appointment of John Saffrett as EVP and Managing Director, Europe1.9.2026 12:00:00 EEST | Press release
ChargePoint (NYSE: CHPT), a global leader in intelligent electrification and e-mobility, today announced the appointment of John Saffrett as Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Europe. In this role, Saffrett will be responsible for driving ChargePoint's growth strategy across European markets, overseeing sales, customer relationships, partnerships, and market expansion across the continent. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260901888806/en/ ChargePoint's EVP and Managing Director John Saffrett He has served as a member of the company’s Advisory Council since March 2026 and is a seasoned global mobility executive with more than 25 years of leadership experience across the automotive, fleet management, and financial services industries. As ChargePoint’s new EVP and MD, Europe, he will report directly to CEO Rick Wilmer. “Europe is at the center of our growth ambitions, and John is the ideal leader to a
EMVCo Requests Feedback on Framework for Secure, Interoperable and Scalable Card-Based Agentic Payments1.9.2026 12:00:00 EEST | Press release
EMVCo – the technical body that creates and manages EMV® Specifications and programmes – has released a draft framework to help promote secure, interoperable and scalable card-based agentic payments. The framework provides a foundation for further industry engagement and potential specification development, with all interested stakeholders encouraged to provide their feedback on EMV® Agentic Payments – Framework for Specificationsby Wednesday 30 September. A key focus across the agentic commerce ecosystem is how to establish intent and determine that a consumer delegated authority to an AI agent to make a purchase on their behalf. Following industry input, EMVCo has focused on card-based agentic payment scenarios where intent needs to be managed over time, such as recurring purchases, cumulative budgets and post-transaction activities. These scenarios may require access to a shared intent ‘state’ that persists across multiple participants and their interactions. EMVCo has identified an
Club Vita Launches German VitaCurves Model as Pension Risk Transfer Market Gathers Momentum1.9.2026 11:00:00 EEST | Press release
Club Vita, an international leader in longevity data analytics, has launched a German calibration of its popular address-based longevity model, VitaCurves, further expanding its international footprint and supporting the growing pension risk transfer (PRT) market in Germany. The launch marks another milestone in Club Vita's international expansion and extends its suite of address-based mortality models, which already provides mortality insights in the UK, United States, Canada and the Netherlands. The German VitaCurvesDEU model is already being used by a leading insurer, helping to provide a more granular understanding of longevity risk across pension and insurance portfolios. VitaCurves uses granular location-based and socio-economic data to identify differences in mortality patterns between sub-populations, enabling insurers, pension funds and other stakeholders to develop more accurate longevity assumptions and risk assessments. It also offers a convenient way of anonymizing pension
JEOL: Launch of the New Benchtop Scanning Electron Microscope “JCM-7000Plus NeoScope™”1.9.2026 10:30:00 EEST | Press release
JEOL Ltd. (President & CEO: Izumi Oi) has developed the benchtop scanning electron microscope (SEM) “JCM-7000Plus” and will begin sales on September 1, 2026. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260825564112/en/ JCM-7000Plus NeoScope™ [Development Background] Benchtop scanning electron microscopes are increasingly used in fields including electrical and electronics, automotive and machinery, steel and metals, chemical and pharmaceuticals. They are utilized not only in research and development but also in manufacturing-related applications, such as quality control and product inspection. In addition, they are adopted in educational settings at middle and high schools as well as universities. Given these diverse applications, there is growing demand for improved operational efficiency, simpler and more automated operation, and enhanced observation, analysis, and measurement performance. To meet these needs, we have e
PPMI and Alipay+ Expand QR Ph for Cross-Border Commerce, Connecting Filipino Businesses with Global Consumers1.9.2026 10:25:00 EEST | Press release
The Philippine Payments Management, Inc. (PPMI) and Ant International's unified wallet gateway, Alipay+, have officially enabled Alipay+ on QR Ph, seamlessly connecting the nation's digital payments ecosystem with global commerce. This milestone is in alignment with and supports the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) digital payments transformation goals. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260901759507/en/ (L-R) Danny Chung, General Manager of Alipay+ Global Growth Center, Ant International; Carmelita “Melit” Araneta, General Manager of Philippine Payments Management Inc.; Atty. Bridget Rose M. Mesina-Romero, Director, Payments Policy and Development Department, Bangko Sentral ng Philipinas According to the BSP’s 2025 Report on E-Payments Measurement, digital payments now account for 64.69% of retail transaction volume in the Philippines, while QR Ph transactions surged more than 13 times in 2025. By connecting t
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom