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
SPIE Announces 2027 Prism Awards Finalists for Best Photonics Products4.11.2026 22:22:00 EET | Press release
SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, has announced finalists in the seven categories for the 2027 Prism Awards, which recognize remarkable new photonics products on the market. Winners will be announced during the awards ceremony at SPIE Photonics West on 3 February 2027 in San Francisco, California. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261104613876/en/ SPIE has announced the finalists for the 2027 SPIE Prism Awards, which recognize optics and photonics innovations. Recipients will be announced at the awards ceremony on 3 February 2027 at SPIE Photonics West. During the Prism Awards, SPIE will also announce the winner of the SPIE Catalyst Award, honoring a for-profit company with social or environmental programs that have made significant advances in workplace opportunity, community engagement, or environmental progress. Finalists for this year’s Catalyst Award, now in its fourth year, are Lume
Every Critical System Should Have a Backup: Elliptic Opens Up Fast Track Monitoring to the Crypto Industry4.11.2026 22:07:00 EET | Press release
Elliptic, the leader in on-chain risk management, is making Fast Track Monitoring available to firms with digital assets exposure as a back up screening option for firms that need business continuity, if their primary screening service is unavailable and they need a second option. Criminals are increasingly using AI to scale their attacks, so on-chain risk now moves at machine speed. Compliance teams need the broadest range of options to keep screening every wallet and transaction, and a second screening provider builds resilience into any on-chain risk management approach. Elliptic recommends every business has one in place. Organizations that rely on a single screening vendor can also still need a second option. Fast Track Monitoring gives compliance teams real-time wallet and transaction screening powered by Elliptic Lens, with a clear, explainable risk score on every wallet and transaction. When screening stops, a compliance lead faces two hard choices: hold customer withdrawals, o
Smartsheet Adds New AI Agents, Integrations and Security Advancements at ENGAGE 20264.11.2026 20:00:00 EET | Press release
Smartsheet, the AI-powered enterprise work management platform, today announced new platform capabilities at ENGAGE 2026, its annual customer conference. The company introduced new AI agents, agentic workflows, system integrations and security controls built to end execution drift: the costly gap between what an organization sets out to deliver and what it actually delivers. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261104562370/en/ Today, Smartsheet introduced new AI agents, agentic workflows, system integrations and security controls built to end execution drift. AI has helped teams move faster, but it is also widening execution drift. As AI agents join people, partners and systems in doing the work, three problems keep that distance from closing. Data is scattered across disconnected tools, so no one sees the full picture. AI is arriving faster than IT can govern it, so leaders hesitate to scale it. Most AI also lack
MultiBank Exchange Holding Forms Predominantly Emirati Board as Platform Records US$500 Billion in Monthly Trading Volume4.11.2026 19:54:00 EET | Press release
MultiBank Group has announced the formation of a predominantly Emirati Board of Directors for MultiBank Exchange Holding, the first interbank trading platform in the BRICS and emerging countries, which achieved in October 2026 a turnover of over US$ 0.5 Trillion. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261104483253/en/ Naser Taher, Chairman of MultiBank Exchange Holding, announced the board which comprises: H.H. Sheikh Juma bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum, Board Member; H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Saqr bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, Board Member; H.E. Mohammed Al Hakim, Vice Chairman of the Board; H.E. Ali bin Khalid bin Zayed Al Falasi, Board Member; H.E. Rashid Sultan Al Malik, Board Member; Mr. Majid Al Ghaslan, Board Member; and Mr. David Ogg, Board Member. Naser Taher, Chairman of MultiBank Exchange Holding, announced the board which comprises: H.H. Sheikh Juma bin Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum, Board Member. H.E. Sheikh Moham
Smartsheet Unveils vsActual: The AI-Native Platform that Connects Strategy to Execution at ENGAGE 20264.11.2026 19:00:00 EET | Press release
Smartsheet, the AI-powered enterprise work management platform, today unveiled a new AI-native strategic planning and execution product at ENGAGE 2026, its annual customer conference. vsActual is designed to solve the two biggest obstacles to enterprise execution: siloed work scattered across disconnected systems and teams, and the manual tracking and reporting that keeps individuals and executives from seeing problems until it’s too late. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261104989965/en/ Today, Smartsheet unveiled a new AI-native strategic planning and execution product, vsActual. AI is helping individuals move faster than ever, but it's also making it harder to keep everyone moving in the same direction. In fact, a PMI research report found that leaders cited the disconnect between planning and execution as the biggest barrier to reinventing their businesses, and VentureBeat Intelligence found that 64% of res
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