Amphista Therapeutics, a leader in next generation targeted protein degradation (TPD) approaches, today announced the delivery of the first discovery milestone under its collaboration and license agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb, triggering a payment for achieving the milestone.
Nicola Thompson, CEO of Amphista, said, “We are absolutely delighted with the progress and success of our collaboration with BMS. Our ability to deliver our first milestone within the first year of our collaboration exemplifies the strength of our Eclipsys™ platform and our ambition to be a world-leading, next generation protein degradation company.”
The collaboration and license agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb was announced on May 4, 2022 and included a $30 million upfront payment, the potential for up to $1.25 billion in performance-based milestone payments and payment for a limited expansion of the collaboration, as well as royalties on global net sales of products. Amphista is responsible for the discovery and development of small molecule protein degraders using Eclipsys™, its next-generation TPD platform. Bristol Myers Squibb is granted a global exclusive license to the resulting degraders and will be responsible for further development and commercialization activities.
Amphista’s next generation bifunctional molecules use a novel approach that makes use of a wider range of the body’s own innate protein degrading mechanisms than those used by most other TPD companies. This proprietary approach offers the potential to overcome many of the limitations seen with current TPD approaches, providing the opportunity to treat a wider range of diseases. Amphista is focused on biological targets with a high level of clinical or genetic validation.
About Amphista Therapeutics
Amphista Therapeutics is focused on transforming the lives of patients with severe diseases including cancer. The company is applying its proprietary Amphista degrader platform to advance new approaches in targeted protein degradation (TPD). They aim to address the challenges faced by earlier stage TPD research and to realise the full therapeutic potential of this transformational approach. Founded by Advent Life Sciences, Amphista is a spin-out of TPD expert Professor Alessio Ciulli’s labs at the University of Dundee. The company has raised over $60M to date and is funded by leading life science investors including Forbion, Gilde Healthcare, Novartis Venture Fund, Advent Life Sciences, Eli Lilly & Company and The Dementia Discovery Fund.