Arvinas LLC, a private biotechnology company creating a new class of drugs based on protein degradation, has expanded an existing license agreement for the development of new therapeutics using their own PROTAC technology.  The multi-year strategic collaboration initiated in October 2015 with Genentech will now encompass additional disease targets.

The PROTAC platform removes target proteins directly rather than inhibiting them. This differs from small molecule inhibitors, which often resulting in toxic side effects and eventual drug resistance.

Under the revised terms of the agreement, Arvinas is now eligible to receive development and commercialization milestone payments in excess of $650 million. In addition, they are also able to receive tiered-royalties on sales of products resulting from the license agreement. 

“Genentech’s decision to expand our original agreement to include additional disease targets shows the promise seen in our first two years together and further supports our targeted protein degradation platform as a novel drug modality to treat a broad array of diseases,” said John Houston, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Arvinas.