Sanofi ups its bet on STAT6, opting in to Nurix-partnered programme

While Sanofi's offer to purchase Blueprint Medicines and its immunology portfolio for more than $9 billion dominated headlines on Monday, the French drugmaker also inked a second — and much smaller — deal the same day, opting into a protein degrader programme from long-time collaborator Nurix. 

Sanofi paid $15 million to exclusively license NX-3911, an oral STAT6 degrader developed under a partnership with Nurix that dates back more than five years.

The asset has shown "robust efficacy in multiple preclinical models of atopic dermatitis and asthma, demonstrating anti-inflammatory efficacy in animal models equivalent to a STAT6 gene knockout," according to Nurix Chief Scientific Officer Gwenn Hansen.

While protein degraders have been touted as a new means to 'drug the undruggable', biotechs in the space have seen their share prices slip this year — though Nurix's stock jumped 13% on the deal news Monday (see – Vital Signs: Degrading returns for protein degraders).

It's the second time Sanofi has opted into a programme from Nurix this quarter, following a $15-million payment in April for rights to a degrader that targets an undisclosed transcription factor linked to autoimmune diseases. 

The pair initially teamed up in December 2019, with Sanofi paying $55 million upfront for Nurix to discover small molecule degraders against three targets using its DNA-encoded libraries (DEL)-AI platform and portfolio of E3 ligases. 

The pharma expanded the partnership a year later with an additional $22 million to increase the number of targets from three to five. The duo broadened their work yet again in April last year to develop an oral STAT6 degrader — and Sanofi seems to be satisfied so far with the fruits of that agreement.

With Monday's option exercise fee, Sanofi has now paid out $127 million to Nurix. The San Francisco-based biotech is eligible for up to $465 million in development, regulatory and commercial milestones tied to the STAT6 programme, as well as royalties. Nurix also can opt in to co-develop and co-promote the therapeutic in the US.