Enlaza Therapeutics Announces Strategic Collaboration with Vertex Pharmaceuticals to Develop War-Lock Drug Conjugates and T-Cell Engagers for Improved Conditioning and Certain Autoimmune Diseases

LA JOLLA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Enlaza Therapeutics (“Enlaza” or the “Company”), the first covalent biologics platform company, today announced a multi-target drug discovery collaboration with Vertex Pharmaceuticals (“Vertex”) (Nasdaq: VRTX) to utilize Enlaza’s proprietary War-Lock™ technology platform to develop small format drug conjugates and T-cell engagers for certain autoimmune diseases and improved conditioning in sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia.

Enlaza’s War-Lock platform creates highly specific warheads that covalently bind to drug targets of interest. This white-space technology enables a covalent-acting protein drug that retains the selectivity of small format biologics. The Company’s novel platform utilizes proprietary non-natural amino acids to precision-engineer biologic medicines that expand the therapeutic window to enable safer, more effective therapies across numerous therapeutic modalities.

“Our proprietary covalent biologics platform has demonstrated compelling promise in oncology, and this strategic collaboration marks a key inflection point as we expand into autoimmune indications,” said Sergio Duron, Ph.D., CEO of Enlaza Therapeutics. “By partnering with Vertex, a proven leader in bringing first-in-class and/or best-in-class medicines to patients, we gain a valued partner to help unlock the potential of covalent protein drugs, opening new markets and accelerating development of differentiated biologics with best-in-class potential.”

"Vertex is committed to developing transformative therapies for serious diseases that fit within our unique R&D strategy including certain autoimmune diseases and gentler conditioning for CASGEVY®, the first and only approved CRISPR/Cas9 gene-edited therapy," said Mark Bunnage, D.Phil., SVP of Global Research at Vertex. "We look forward to exploring the potential of Enlaza’s War-Lock platform to help us achieve these goals."

Under the terms of the collaboration, Enlaza will receive $45 million inclusive of an upfront payment and equity investment. The Company is further eligible to receive more than $2 billion in future milestone payments, including research, development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, plus tiered royalties on net sales. Enlaza will lead all research activities through development candidate nomination, and Vertex will subsequently lead all future research, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of successful product candidates. Vertex will fund all research and development costs related to the four-year collaboration.

Cooley LLP and Covington LLP acted as legal advisors to Enlaza and Vertex, respectively, on the transaction.

About Enlaza Therapeutics

Enlaza Therapeutics is pioneering the field of covalent biologics. This novel class of protein therapeutics has the potential to deliver more efficacious and safer treatments for patients. The Company’s proprietary War-Lock™ platform leverages leading synthetic biology technology for site-specific covalent coupling driven by drug binding. Enlaza is building a pipeline of first-in-class covalent biologics. For more information, visit www.enlazatx.com.

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Enlaza Therapeutics

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Source: Enlaza Therapeutics