C4 Therapeutics leaps on news of DACs deal with Merck

Shares of US clinical-stage biotech C4 Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CCCC) closed up a massive 98% on Tuesday and gained a further 12.8% to $2.64 pre-market, after the company announced a potentially lucrative deal with US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK).

The exclusive license and collaboration agreement with Merck is for the development of degrader-antibody conjugates (DACs), an emerging modality designed to selectively target and neutralize disease-causing proteins in cancer cells.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Merck to innovate within the growing field of antibody-drug conjugates and evaluate the potential for combining the catalytic efficiency, potency, target specificity, and durability of degraders with the specific binding and delivery capabilities of antibodies,” said Andrew Hirsch, president and chief executive of C4 Therapeutics, adding: “We look forward to leveraging our powerful TORPEDO platform in collaboration with Merck’s antibody-drug conjugation expertise to engineer novel medicines with the potential to transform patients’ lives.”