Monte Rosa Therapeutics and Yeda, the commercial arm of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Announce License and Research Collaboration to Accelerate Discovery of Novel Covalent Molecular Glue Degraders

BOSTON and REHOVOT, Israel, Jan. 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Monte Rosa Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: GLUE), a biotechnology company developing novel molecular glue degrader medicines, announced a license and research collaboration agreement with Dr. Nir London and the Yeda Research and Development Company Ltd., the commercial arm of the Weizmann Institute of Science, which aims to accelerate the discovery and development of novel covalent molecular glue degraders leveraging CoLDR (covalent ligand-directed release) technology.

Dr. London, a senior scientist from the Weizmann Institute and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for Monte Rosa, is a world-renowned chemical biologist who applies computational and experimental methods to the design and discovery of novel compounds, with a focus on covalent mechanism of action. Dr. London and his team at the Weizmann Institute developed CoLDR technology, which uses covalent chemical inhibitors as a targeting system for selective cargo release (e.g. anti-cancer drugs and probes) or for site-specific labeling. This technology has the potential to be applied to the targeted protein degradation field, including the development of novel molecular glue degraders for cancer and other diseases.

“We are thrilled to partner with Dr. London and his team at the Weizmann Institute to utilize CoLDR technology to advance the field of targeted protein degradation through the identification of novel E3 ligases and covalent E3 ligase recruiters suitable for molecular glue degradation,” said Sharon Townson, Ph.D., Chief Technology Officer of Monte Rosa. “Through this research collaboration, we hope to not only expand the E3 ligase-target universe—we hope to further unlock therapeutically relevant proteins that were previously considered inadequately drugged by other small molecule approaches.”

“We are incredibly excited to partner with the experienced team at Monte Rosa, who – through the development of its QuEEN platform – has demonstrated a detailed understanding of the molecular interactions promoted by its molecular glue degraders,” said Dr. London. “By leveraging CoLDR technology, we hope to further expand upon the potential of QuEEN to identify potent, highly selective therapies for patients with few to no treatment options today.”

About Monte Rosa
Monte Rosa Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing a portfolio of novel molecular glue degrader medicines. These medicines are designed to employ the body’s natural mechanisms to selectively eliminate therapeutically relevant proteins. The company has developed a proprietary protein degradation platform, called QuEEN™ (Quantitative and Engineered Elimination of Neosubstrates), that enables it to rapidly identify protein targets and molecular glue degrader, or MGD, product candidates that are designed to eliminate therapeutically relevant proteins in a highly selective manner. The company’s drug discovery platform combines diverse and proprietary chemical libraries of small molecule protein degraders with in-house proteomics, structural biology, AI/machine learning-based target selection and computational chemistry capabilities to predict and obtain protein degradation profiles. For more information, visit www.monterosatx.com. 

About the Weizmann Institute of Science
The Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, is one of the world’s top-ranking multidisciplinary research institutions. Noted for its wide-ranging exploration of the natural and exact sciences, Weizmann Institute's scientists are advancing research on the human brain, artificial intelligence, computer science and encryption, astrophysics and particle physics, and are tackling diseases such as cancer, while also addressing climate change through environmental, ocean, and plant sciences. For more information, visit www.weizmann.ac.il.

About Yeda
Yeda Research and Development Company Ltd. is the commercial arm of the Weizmann Institute of Science. Yeda currently manages approximately 500 unique patent families and has generated the highest income per researcher compared to any other academic technology transfer operation worldwide. Through the years, Yeda has contributed to the commercialization of a number of groundbreaking therapies, such as Copaxone, Rebif, Tookad^®, Erbitux^®, Vectibix^®, Protrazza^®, Humira^®, and recently the CAR-T cancer therapy Yescarta^®. For more information, visit www.yedarnd.com/.

Contacts:

Investors
Michael Morabito, Solebury Trout
ir@monterosatx.com

Media
Dan Budwick, 1AB
dan@1abmedia.com