Amgen and Arrakis enter a multi-target collaboration

US biotech giant Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) and Arrakis Therapeutics today announced a research collaboration focused on the discovery and development of RNA degrader therapeutics against a range of difficult-to-drug targets in multiple therapeutic areas.

This new class of “targeted RNA degraders” consists of small molecule drugs that selectively destroy RNAs encoding disease-causing proteins by inducing their proximity to nucleases.

Under the terms of the agreement, Arrakis will lead research activities for the identification of RNA-targeted small molecule (rSM) binders against a broad set of targets nominated by Amgen. Both parties will collaboratively design and functionalize these molecules to specifically degrade targeted RNAs, and Amgen will lead further pre-clinical and clinical development activities.