New Haven’s Arvinas Inc. has inked a deal potentially worth more than $795 million with pharma giant Bayer in hopes of using the biotech’s protein degrader technology to help farmers protect their crops.
The partnership, announced Tuesday morning, also aims to develop new drugs for patients with cardiovascular, oncological and gynecological diseases.
Under the deal, Arvinas will receive more than $110 million upfront in cash and committed research and development funding, as well as a direct equity investment from Bayer.
On the pharmaceutical side, Arvinas is also eligible for milestone payments topping $685 million and royalties ranging from “the mid-single digits to the low double-digits” on any new drugs developed through the partnership.
The deal also calls for the launching of a new company to develop “sustainable agricultural products” using Arvinas’ protein degrader technology, known as PROTAC (short for proteolysis-targeting chimeras).
The yet-to-be-named startup will be located in New Haven, likely in Science Park initially, which is where Arvinas is based, CEO John Houston said in a phone interview Tuesday morning.
Arvinas and Bayer will share 50-50 ownership in the startup, which is expected to launch with around 5 to 10 employees, Houston said.
The deal will also mean new hires for Arvinas, which plans to expand its headcount from 100 to 140 employees by the end of the year.
Founded in 2013 by Yale scientist Craig Crews, Arvinas has been leading an emerging field in pharmaceuticals known as protein degradation, which uses small molecules that induce the body to destroy disease-causing proteins.
It has been heralded as a promising field for cancer treatment. But this would be the first time the technology has been used in plants, Houston said.
“It’s completely novel,” he said. “It’s never been done.”
The technology has the potential to address plant resistance to existing products that are used to control weeds, insects and diseases. Houston said the company has conducted preliminary research that supports the new application.
Bayer said it is committing $55 million over six years to the new company to “build an agro-specific PROTAC IP portfolio.”
“With this cutting-edge science, we aim to deliver safe and effective solutions that will aid farmers in protecting and producing crops that help to feed a growing global population,” said Robert Reiter, Bayer’s head of crop science R&D.
The company is also committing $17.5 million upfront, $12 million in R&D funding, and $32.5 million in equity for the pharmaceutical piece, according to Houston. He said Bayer will own roughly 4 percent of Arvinas.
The drug giant is the third major pharmaceutical company to partner with the Elm City biotech, which inked an $830 million deal with Pfizer in 2018. It also has a partnership with Roche subsidiary Genentech.
On the fast track
The latest deal follows another win for Arvinas last week, when the FDA granted fast-track status for its drug targeting a treatment-resistant form of prostate cancer.
The designation makes the company eligible for more frequent interactions with federal regulators and could shorten the review process.
Designed to bring promising therapies to market more quickly, the designation is awarded to drugs that treat serious conditions and fill unmet medical needs.
Arvinas launched its first clinical trial on the drug, ARV-110, this spring to evaluate its safety for patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) whose disease has progressed after treatment with standard therapies.
At the time, company officials said it was believed to be the first of this new class of so-called protein degrader drugs to be tested in humans.
The drug works by harnessing the body’s natural protein-disposal system to attack and remove the androgen receptor protein, which plays a role in the progression of the disease.
Arvinas says standard therapies for the disease are less effective for patients with increased levels of androgen production or mutations in the androgen receptor.
“The Fast Track designation recognizes the urgency for these patients,” Houston said.
Contact Natalie Missakian at news@newhavenbiz.com
