Biogen to Partner with Local Biotechs C4T and Skyhawk on New Treatments

Biogen has announced separate strategic collaborations with C4 Therapeutics (C4T) of Watertown and Skyhawk Therapeutics of Waltham to discover and develop potential new treatments for neurological conditions.

C4T is pioneering a new class of small-molecule drugs that selectively target disease-relevant proteins for degradation using the innate machinery of the cell. This targeted protein degradation approach has the potential to treat a range of diseases and offers advantages over traditional drugs, such as potential to minimize drug resistance, de-risked starting points, high potency and specificity.

Under the agreement, C4T will provide expertise and research services in targeted protein degradation and Biogen will provide neuroscience expertise and drug development capabilities. Biogen and C4T will research potential targets together and Biogen will advance candidates for development and potential commercialization. Biogen will pay C4T up to a total of $415 million in upfront and potential future milestone payments plus potential future royalties.

The agreement with Skyhawk Therapeutics enables Biogen to leverage Skyhawk’s SkySTAR™ (Skyhawk Small molecule Therapeutics for Alternative splicing of RNA) platform with the goal of discovering innovative small molecule treatments for patients with neurological diseases. Biogen will have the option to license therapies resulting from the collaboration and will be responsible for their development and potential commercialization.

The agreement with Skyhawk grants Biogen an exclusive license to worldwide intellectual property rights on research-stage therapeutic candidates for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) and additional neurological disorders. As part of the agreement, Skyhawk received an upfront payment of $74 million from Biogen and may receive potential future milestone payments and royalties. (Source: Biogen Website, 04 January, 2019)