Orionis Biosciences and Novartis Expand Collaboration to Develop Molecular Glue Drugs Using AI-Driven Platform
Key Insights
Orionis Biosciences (search) and Novartis announced a multi-year strategic collaboration to discover and design molecular glue drugs targeting challenging disease targets across multiple therapeutic areas.
Orionis will receive a $40 million upfront payment and is eligible for up to $1.4 billion in milestone payments plus tiered royalties on net sales of collaboration products.
The partnership leverages Orionis's Allo-Glue™ platform and AI-driven discovery engine, integrated with robotic automation, to accelerate target-ligase profiling and molecular glue optimization.
Orionis Biosciences (search), a privately held, clinical-stage life sciences company, announced on June 10, 2026 a multi-year strategic collaboration with Novartis to discover and design molecular glue drugs aimed at challenging therapeutic targets across multiple disease areas. The deal, which expands an existing relationship between the two companies, underscores the growing pharmaceutical industry interest in induced proximity mechanisms as a modality for tackling previously elusive targets.
Under the terms of the agreement, Orionis will receive an upfront payment of $40 million and is eligible to receive research, development, and commercial milestone payments of up to $1.4 billion, in addition to tiered royalties on net sales of collaboration products.
Platform Integration and AI-Driven Discovery
The collaboration will leverage Orionis's proprietary Allo-Glue™ platform alongside its AI-driven discovery engine to accelerate target and ligase profiling and molecular glue optimization. These integrated capabilities enable the systematic discovery of small molecule glues that modulate therapeutic targets through induced proximity mechanisms—an approach that can reprogram protein function within living cells through degradation, stabilization, or modulation.
"Our recent advances in AI and robotic automation have accelerated all aspects of molecular glue discovery, from systematic prioritization of productive target–ligase pairs to glue candidate discovery and optimization," said Riccardo Sabatini, Chief Data Scientist at Orionis Biosciences (search). "This is exactly the kind of platform maturity that makes collaborations like this possible."
Leadership Perspectives
Niko Kley, Chief Executive Officer of Orionis Biosciences (search), emphasized the significance of the expanded partnership: "We are proud to renew and expand our collaboration with Novartis. Having such a partner continue to engage deeply with us is a strong validation of the value of our molecular glue platform and the progress we have achieved toward rational and scalable discovery of this emerging drug class."
From the Novartis side, John Tallarico, Head of Discovery Sciences, expressed enthusiasm for the collaboration's potential: "The Orionis platform offers an opportunity to rapidly uncover and design molecular glue mechanisms, enabling us to expand the horizon of targetable biology for future therapies."
Orionis Biosciences (search): A Clinical-Stage Pioneer
Orionis Biosciences (search) is a clinical-stage life sciences company focused on the systematic discovery and design of both small and large molecule therapeutic modalities that act through molecular proximity mechanisms. The company's Allo-Glue™ small molecule platform enables functional reprogramming of proteins within living cells. Orionis has built advanced capabilities spanning chemical biology, artificial intelligence-driven molecular design, and large-scale cell-based interrogation, supporting the rational discovery of molecular glues. The company is advancing a diversified pipeline of programs in oncology and immunology while collaborating with leading biopharmaceutical companies to translate its technologies into transformative medicines.