Nurix Therapeutics said June 7 it struck a global collaboration with Roche for bexobrutideg, a BTK degrader, in a deal that could bring in up to $2.3 billion and immediately deliver $700 million in cash.
The agreement covers malignant hematology, immunology and neurology, and expands beyond the company’s existing chronic lymphocytic leukemia program. Nurix said the collaboration will support previously disclosed pivotal phase 2 and phase 3 trials in CLL, plus multiple label-enabling studies in other blood cancers, and phase 2 trials in multiple sclerosis and chronic spontaneous urticaria.
Under the terms, development costs will be split 40% to Nurix and 60% to Roche. In the U.S., the two companies will share profits and losses equally and co-commercialize the drug across all indications. Outside the U.S., Roche will handle commercialization while Nurix receives royalties in the low* to high-teens.
The deal gives Nurix a large near-term cash infusion: $700 million upfront, with additional development, regulatory and sales milestones that could lift total payments to $2.3 billion.
Nurix said bexobrutideg has shown high overall objective response rates in early clinical studies in CLL patients who had progressed on prior therapies, including patients with brain involvement and those with either wild-type BTK or resistance mutations. The company is positioning the drug as an oral, brain-penetrant treatment designed to eliminate BTK rather than just inhibit its kinase activity. The market has reacted to these announcements by moving the company's shares 8.23% to a price of $15.8447. For more information, read the company's full 8-K submission here.
