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Nurix Therapeutics NRIX shares rose 8.7% on Wednesday after the company announced that Sanofi SNY has in-licensed exclusive rights to an undisclosed Nurix program aimed at a previously untreatable transcription factor for autoimmune diseases. This undisclosed target plays a key role in regulating inflammation and is separate from the previously revealed STAT6 degrader program, signed between the companies in 2019. The stock is gaining further in the pre-market hours on Thursday.
Nurix and Sanofi first established a strategic collaboration in 2019 to develop and commercialize a portfolio of targeted protein degradation therapies for patients with complex diseases across various therapeutic areas. The partnership utilizes NRIX’s proprietary DEL-AI discovery platform to discover small molecules that promote the degradation of three initially designated drug targets. In 2021, Sanofi exercised its option to expand the number of targets from three to five.
The latest update further expands the collaboration agreement between Nurix and Sanofi, highlighting the strength of its DEL-AI platform.
Year to date, NRIX stock has plunged 39.6% against the industry’s 1.2% growth.
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Details of NRIX’s Updated Collaboration Deal With SNY
Nurix's proprietary DEL-AI platform has enabled the discovery of novel binders, leading to the development of both targeted protein degraders and stand-alone binders for a previously untreatable transcription factor. Per management, this key target plays a crucial role in regulating proinflammatory cytokines and inflammation in autoimmune diseases, highlighting the potential of targeted protein degradation as an innovative therapeutic approach.
Under the revised collaboration, Nurix will utilize its DEL-AI drug discovery platform to develop novel agents that leverage E3 ligases for targeted protein degradation. Sanofi holds the right to license drug candidates emerging from this research, while Nurix retains the option to co-develop and co-promote up to two future products in the United States after demonstrating clinical proof of concept in dosing, efficacy, and safety studies.
For programs where Nurix exercises this option, both companies will share U.S. profits and losses equally, with NRIX also earning royalties on ex-U.S. sales. If the company chooses not to co-develop a program, it will receive milestone payments and royalties based on global development and sales from SNY.
Nurix has received a license extension fee of $15 million from Sanofi. The company remains eligible for up to $465 million in potential development, regulatory, and commercial milestone payments per licensed program, along with royalties on future sales.