Roche has signed a worldwide option and license agreement with Vividion Therapeutics, gaining access to the latter’s proteomics screening platform and proprietary small molecule library to target E3 ligases as well as a range of oncology and immunology therapeutic targets.

E3 ligases direct target proteins to the proteasome for degradation. Vividion explained that small molecules directed to E3 ligases with potentially differentiated properties, such as tissue-restricted bioactivity or stronger target recognition, have the potential to unlock a wide range of valuable therapeutic options.

“Our proprietary platform has demonstrated the ability to identify molecules that can drug challenging protein classes, such as transcription factors, adaptor proteins, and E3 ligases,” said Vividion’s president and chief business officer Fred Aslan. “We look forward to discovering new therapies with Roche while simultaneously advancing our wholly owned pipeline.”

Under the terms of the transaction, Vividion will be responsible for early drug discovery and pre-clinical development for selected programs. The San Diego, California-based company will receive $135 million from Roche and is also eligible to receive several billion dollars on achieving preclinical, development and commercial milestones as well as royalties on sales of any commercialized products.

The agreement marks the second major collaboration for Vividion.  In March 2018, the biotech linked with Celgene to identify and develop unique small molecules against targets for a range of oncology, inflammatory and neurodegenerative indications.

Celgene made an upfront payment of $101 million, which also included an equity investment in Vividion. The collaboration has an initial term of four years, with Celgene having the option to extend it by another two years for an additional payment.

Vividion’s platform was spun out of the labs of its founders, a team of experts in chemical biology and synthetic chemistry from The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.