Ventus Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced a multi-year collaboration with Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, to discover and optimize novel small-molecule candidates for challenging targets in major disease areas. The partnership leverages Ventus' proprietary ReSOLVE® platform, which combines artificial intelligence, machine learning, protein science, structural biology, and biophysics to accelerate drug discovery.
Financial Terms and Structure
Under the collaboration agreement, Ventus will receive an upfront payment and is eligible for preclinical, development and commercial milestones exceeding $460 million plus tiered royalties on net sales. The partnership divides responsibilities with Ventus using ReSOLVE® for virtual screening and lead identification of novel small molecules against multiple targets, while Genentech will conduct subsequent preclinical development, clinical development and commercialization.
ReSOLVE® Platform Technology
ReSOLVE® represents a unique approach to drug discovery by modeling the structure of water in motion to better understand protein structures. The platform generates precise and dynamic water networks in protein pockets, producing what Ventus calls a "hydrocophore®" - a blueprint for small molecule binders that can support lead identification and optimization at a fraction of the time and cost of traditional screening processes.
"ReSOLVE® uniquely models the structure of water in motion to better understand protein structures, thereby shortening the drug discovery timeline and accelerating patient benefit," said Michael Crackower, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Ventus. "Genentech is a world leader in drug discovery, responsible for bringing some of the most important medicines of our time to patients. We look forward to working together to discover breakthrough medicines."
The platform is described as the only technology that can model all conformations of a protein, identify druggable pockets, characterize the dynamic water networks of a pocket, and use those water networks to generate blueprints for small molecule binders. The hydrocophore® enables rapid virtual screening of libraries containing billions of compounds, efficiently identifying potent and structurally unique chemical matter.
Strategic Rationale
Boris L. Zaïtra, Head of Roche Corporate Business Development, emphasized the strategic value of the collaboration: "Roche and Genentech are continuing to invest in breakthrough technologies that help us to bring differentiated therapies to patients. Collaborating with biotech companies such as Ventus, which brings a unique computational approach to drug discovery, has the potential to generate innovative medicines for long-standing challenging targets."
The collaboration will initiate discovery programs for multiple therapeutic targets and support medicinal chemistry strategy for active Genentech programs. Additionally, Ventus may leverage ReSOLVE® to support other discovery programs at Genentech, expanding the platform's application across the pharmaceutical giant's research portfolio.
Ventus Pipeline and Platform Applications
ReSOLVE® is both target agnostic and therapeutic area agnostic, applicable to multiple stages of drug discovery from target assessment to development candidate nomination. Ventus has demonstrated the platform's capabilities through its own robust pipeline of wholly-owned programs, including VENT-03, a first-in-class oral cGAS inhibitor in Phase 2 for lupus, and VENT-02, a best-in-class, brain-penetrant oral NLRP3 inhibitor in Phase 2 for Parkinson's disease.
The company also has VENT-04, a first-in-class caspase-4/5 inhibitor in preclinical development, and has out-licensed VENT-01, a peripherally-restricted oral NLRP3 inhibitor in Phase 1, to Novo Nordisk A/S. These programs span immunological, inflammatory, and neurological disorders, demonstrating the platform's versatility across therapeutic areas.
