Novartis and ProFound Therapeutics have entered into a four-year partnership aimed at discovering and developing new therapeutics for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), with the deal worth $750m per target.
The collaboration will combine Novartis’ capabilities in cardiovascular drug development with ProFound’s ProFoundry Platform, which uses protein detection technologies to identify and validate novel proteins and dissect their therapeutic potential.
CVDs, a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels, are the leading cause of death globally, resulting in an estimated 17.9 million deaths each year.
Fiona Marshall, president, biomedical research at Novartis outlined that the company is “committed to identifying novel therapeutic targets to drive the discovery and development of innovative medicines for patients with CVD”
“We are excited to collaborate with ProFound and combine our respective expertise and capabilities to explore under-researched biology, uncover new mechanisms and translate pioneering science into life-changing treatments,” she added.
Under the alliance, ProFound will receive $25m in upfront and near-term milestone payments and will be eligible for downstream milestones payments of $750m per selected target, as well as tiered royalties.
John Lepore, chief executive officer of ProFound Therapeutics and Flagship Pioneering chief executive officer-partner, said: “This collaboration further validates the power of our ProFoundry Platform to go beyond traditional target discovery approaches by tapping into the vast, largely unexplored biology of the expanded human proteome.
“Together, we have the opportunity to accelerate the discovery of entirely new targets and support the development of transformative therapies to address the growing global burden of CVD.”
CVD is a key focus area for Novartis, and its partnership with ProFound is the latest in a series of deals to expand its CVD capabilities.
The company announced in February this year that it would be acquiring Anthos Therapeutics for approximately $3.1bn, giving it access to a candidate in phase 3 development for the prevention of stroke and systemic embolism in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), the most common form of abnormal heart rhythm.
It also entered into a collaboration and licence agreement with Ionis Pharmaceuticals in 2023 for the discovery, development and commercialisation of a drug targeting lipoprotein(a)-driven CVD.