The collaboration with Merck combines Rigel’s capabilities in ubiquitin ligases with Merck’s molecular profiling technology and downstream clinical infrastructure to explore this promising new class of drug targets.
“We believe this is one of the largest dedicated efforts focused on ligases by a pharmaceutical or biotech enterprise and it is proving to be a highly productive collaboration exploring ligases and potential therapeutics in cancer,” said Dr Donald Payan, executive vice president and chief scientific officer of Rigel.
Under the terms of the agreement, Rigel received an initial cash payment and funding for Rigel research scientists for two and a half years and is also eligible to receive milestone payments for preclinical and clinical events.
Merck is responsible for worldwide development and commercialization of any resulting compounds and will pay Rigel royalties on future product sales, if any. The collaboration is based on a number of new targets designated by Merck and do not include Rigel’s current ligase targets. Additional terms were not disclosed.
Ubiquitin ligases are enzymes that regulate protein degradation within the cell. Breakdown of proteins, in turn, affects many important cellular functions, including cell division. Targeting ligases represents a novel approach to treating diseases where normal cellular processes are out of balance.