C4 Therapeutics Announces Strategic Discovery Research Collaboration with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Against Critical Oncogenic Proteins
March 04 2024 - 7:00AM
C4 Therapeutics, Inc. (C4T) (Nasdaq: CCCC), a clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company dedicated to advancing targeted protein
degradation science, today announced it has entered into a license
and collaboration agreement with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany,
which operates its healthcare business as EMD Serono in the U.S.
and Canada, to exclusively discover two targeted protein degraders
against critical oncogenic proteins that C4T has progressed within
its internal discovery pipeline.
“We look forward to partnering with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt,
Germany, and leveraging our collective strengths to advance an
exciting program from C4T’s internal oncology pipeline that has the
potential to transform how cancer is treated,” said Andrew Hirsch,
president and chief executive officer of C4 Therapeutics. “This new
partnership highlights C4T’s differentiated approach to targeted
protein degradation science and our strong track record of
designing novel targeted protein degrader medicines with desirable
drug-like properties that have the potential to treat patients with
unmet medical needs.”
“The collaboration adds to Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany's
growing portfolio of targeted protein degradation projects and
accelerates our efforts to expand our presence in this highly
dynamic field,” said Paul Lyne, Head of Research Unit Oncology
at the Healthcare business sector of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt,
Germany. “We look forward to capitalizing on C4 Therapeutics’
experience in advancing degrader candidates targeting
disease-causing proteins from discovery to the clinical stage, with
the shared goal of improving patient outcomes.”
Under the terms of the agreement, C4T and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt,
Germany, will collaborate to discover two targeted protein
degraders against critical oncogenic proteins. C4T will receive an
upfront payment of $16 million. Merck KGaA Darmstadt, Germany, will
fund C4T’s discovery research efforts. C4T has the potential to
receive up to approximately $740 million in discovery, regulatory,
and commercial milestone payments across the collaboration. In
addition, C4T is eligible for mid-single to low-double digit tiered
royalties on future sales for each program.
As part of the collaboration, C4T will utilize its proprietary
TORPEDO® platform to discover degraders targeting the partnership’s
oncogenic proteins of interest. Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany,
will be responsible for clinical development and commercialization
for drug candidates coming out of these programs.
About C4 TherapeuticsC4 Therapeutics (C4T)
(Nasdaq: CCCC) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company
dedicated to delivering on the promise of targeted protein
degradation science to create a new generation of medicines that
transforms patients’ lives. C4T is progressing targeted oncology
programs through clinical studies and leveraging its
TORPEDO® platform to efficiently design and optimize
small-molecule medicines to address difficult-to-treat diseases.
C4T’s degrader medicines are designed to harness the body’s natural
protein recycling system to rapidly degrade disease-causing
proteins, offering the potential to overcome drug resistance, drug
undruggable targets and improve patient outcomes. For more
information, please visit www.c4therapeutics.com.
Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release
contains “forward-looking statements” of C4 Therapeutics, Inc.
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. These forward-looking statements may include, but may not
be limited to, express or implied statements regarding our ability
to develop potential therapies for patients; the design and
potential efficacy of our therapeutic approaches; the predictive
capability of our TORPEDO® platform in the development of
novel, selective, orally bioavailable BiDAC™ and MonoDAC™
degraders; our ability to achieve potential future milestone or
royalty payments; and our ability to fund our future operations.
Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on
management’s current expectations and beliefs of future events and
are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause
actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set
forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. For a
discussion of the risks and uncertainties, and other important
factors, any of which could cause our actual results to differ from
those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the section
entitled “Risk Factors” in C4 Therapeutics’ most recent Annual
Report on Form 10-K and/or Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, as filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information in
this press release is as of the date of the release and C4
Therapeutics undertakes no duty to update this information unless
required by law.
Contacts:Investors: Courtney SolbergSenior
Manager, Investor RelationsCSolberg@c4therapeutics.com
Media: Loraine Spreen Senior Director, Corporate
Communications & Patient
Advocacy LSpreen@c4therapeutics.com
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