ProFound Therapeutics, a company pioneering the expanded human proteome to develop groundbreaking medicines for various diseases, has announced a four-year collaboration with Novartis. This collaboration aims to discover and develop novel therapeutics for cardiovascular disease using Novartis’ ProFoundry Platform.

Under the four-year collaboration agreement, ProFound will receive $25 million in upfront and near-term milestone payments with the potential transaction value from downstream milestones of $750 million per selected target, with additional potential for tiered royalties.

By combining ProFound’s capabilities in identifying novel proteins from the expanded proteome as potential drugs and drug targets with Novartis’s cardiovascular drug development expertise, the partnership seeks to bring innovative solutions to a growing population of patients.

The ProFoundry Platform utilizes multi-layered sources of biological data and advanced computational tools to uncover, investigate, and validate a vast array of proteins hidden within the expanded human proteome. This platform enables the identification of novel protein drugs and drug targets based on these findings.

“We are thrilled to partner with Novartis, whose leadership in cardiovascular innovation is widely recognized across the industry,” said John Lepore, M.D., CEO of ProFound Therapeutics and Flagship Pioneering CEO-Partner. “This collaboration further validates the power of our ProFoundry Platform to go beyond traditional target discovery approaches by tapping into the vast, largely unexplored biology of the expanded human proteome. Together, we have the opportunity to accelerate the discovery of entirely new targets and support the development of transformative therapies to address the growing global burden of cardiovascular disease.”

Fiona Marshall, Ph.D., President, Biomedical Research at Novartis, added, “Novartis is committed to identifying novel therapeutic targets to drive the discovery and development of innovative medicines for patients with cardiovascular disease. We are excited to collaborate with ProFound and combine our respective expertise and capabilities to explore under-researched biology, uncover new mechanisms, and translate pioneering science into life-changing treatments.”