Genentech, Orionis to Stick Together with Deal on Glues Free

Genentech will collaborate with Orionis Biosciences to discover and develop molecular glues for cancer, the companies announced today. Molecular glues are small molecules that bind to, and promote interaction between, two molecules; in cancer, they can be used to recruit a cancer-implicated protein to cellular machinery that degrades proteins. Genentech will pay Orionis $105 million upfront and up to $2 billion if certain milestones are met. As part of the deal, Genentech will gain access to Orionis’ Allo-Glue platform, which uses “chemical biology tools, engineered cellular assay systems, custom-built high-throughput robotic automation and specialized artificial intelligence infrastructure” to profile protein interactions and accelerate glue discoveries, according to Orionis.