Milestone for Amphista Therapeutics in collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb
Amphista Therapeutics has 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.
The collaboration and license agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb was announced on May 4, 2022, and included a $30m upfront payment, the potential for up to $1.25bn 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 targeted protein degradation (TPD) platform. Bristol Myers Squibb is granted a global exclusive license to the resulting degraders and will be responsible for further development and commercialisation 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.
Nicola Thompson, CEO of the leader in next-generation TPD approaches, 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.”
Founded in 2017 by Advent Life Sciences, Amphista is a spin-out of TPD expert Professor Alessio Ciulli’s labs at the University of Dundee.
The Granta Park-based company has raised more than $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.
The company, and CEO, are finalists in the Cambridge Independent Science and Technology Awards 2023, being held on Thursday, May 18, at the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Anglia Ruskin University.
