BridGene Biosciences broadend deal with Galapagos to develop PROTAC

BridGene Biosciences, announced an expansion to its strategic collaboration and licensing agreement with Galapagos . This new collaboration builds upon the partnership initiated in January 2024, focusing on the discovery of a highly selective oral SMARCA2 small molecule proteolysis targeting chimera PROTAC .Under the expanded agreement, BridGene will leverage its PROTAC discovery engine in combination with Galapagos’ expertise in selective ATPase small molecules. The collaboration aims to advance the molecule into a preclinical candidate, with Galapagos holding exclusive rights for further development and commercialization. Galapagos will provide BridGene with upfront and preclinical milestone payments, alongside additional payments based on clinical and commercial milestones, potentially bringing the total deal value to $159M . BridGene is also eligible to receive tiered royalties on net sales of each product resulting from the collaboration.”We are excited to deepen our collaboration with Galapagos to discover new drugs targeting critical and challenging oncology targets,” stated Ping Cao, Ph.D., Co-Founder and CEO of BridGene Biosciences. “The depth of Galapagos’ scientific expertise in oncology aligns perfectly with our capabilities. This collaboration will further reinforce our strong track record in identifying drugs for difficult targets. We aim to create partnerships that significantly boost the likelihood of success by integrating our innovative discovery platform with the wide-ranging scientific and clinical expertise of partners like Galapagos.”