Pinetree Therapeutics will help AstraZeneca plant some trees in its pipeline with a new pact to develop a preclinical EGFR degrader worth $45 million upfront for the small biotech.
AstraZeneca is also offering up the potential for $500 million in milestone payments down the line, plus royalties on net sales if the therapy makes it to the market, according to a Tuesday release.
In exchange, the U.K. pharma scores an exclusive option to license Pinetree’s preclinical EGFR degrader for global development and commercialization.
Pinetree developed the therapy using its AbReptor TPD platform, which is designed to degrade membrane-bound and extracellular proteins to discover new therapeutics to combat drug resistance in oncology.
The biotech has been quietly working in the background since its founding in 2019, raising $23.5 million in a series A1 in June 2022. Investors included InterVest, SK Securities, DSC Investment, J Curve Investment, Samho Green Investment and SJ Investment Partners.
Pinetree is led by Hojuhn Song, Ph.D., who previously served as a project team leader for the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research, which was renamed to Novartis Biomedical Research last year.
AstraZeneca knows a thing or two about the EGFR gene thanks to leading cancer med Tagrisso. The med has broad approvals in EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer. The Pinetree pact will focus on developing a therapy for EGFR-expressing tumors, including those with EGFR mutations, according to Puja Sapra, senior vice president, Oncology Targeted Discovery, Oncology R&D, at AstraZeneca.