10:17 AM EDT, 04/09/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Nurix Therapeutics ( NRIX ) said Tuesday that it has extended its research collaboration with Sanofi ( SNY ) to develop an oral signal transducer and activator of transcription 6, or STAT6, degrader to potentially treat patients with type 2 inflammation, with the goal of nominating a clinical candidate in the coming 12 months.

Sanofi ( SNY ) made an upfront payment of $55 million upon the signing of the agreement with Nurix in December 2019 and paid $22 million one year later to expand the scope of the collaboration, Nurix said, adding it remains eligible for up to $2.5 billion in potential future milestone payments as well as royalties on future products.

Under the research program, Nurix said it is using its proprietary drug discovery platform to identify novel agents that use E3 ligases to induce degradation of specified drug targets.

Sanofi ( SNY ) has an option to license drug candidates derived from the collaboration, while Nurix retains the option to co-develop and co-promote future products in the US under programs that Nurix has exercised its option for, Nurix said.

If Nurix exercises its option to co-develop and co-promote any of the programs, the companies will share US profits and losses evenly and Nurix will be eligible to receive royalties on sales outside the US on all optioned products, according to Nurix.

Nurix shares were up 5.8% in recent trading and Sanofi ( SNY ) shares were 0.4% higher.

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