HQ Team
June 25, 2025: Gilead Sciences Inc. and Kymera Therapeutics have signed a $750 million license agreement to develop a new cancer medicine to treat breast cancer and other solid tumours.
The oral drug uses a technology called a “molecular glue degrader” that removes, rather than inhibit, a protein called CDK2, which helps tumours grow. Traditional inhibitors of CDK2 prevent it from working, but often interfere with similar proteins, which can cause undesired side effects, according to a Gilead statement.
The new drug has the potential to provide more “precise, safe and effective treatments for cancers that rely on CDK2 activity by selectively removing this protein from cells.”
Abnormal activity
Cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) is a protein that plays an important role in controlling the cell cycle, which is the process cells use to grow and divide. While it is important for normal cell function, its abnormal activity is linked to cancer growth, making it a promising target for cancer therapies.
Kymera will receive up to $750 million in total payments, including up to $85 million in upfront and royalties from sales. The deal is expected to reduce Gilead’s 2025 profit per share by about two to three cents.
Kymera will lead all research activities for the CDK2 program. If Gilead exercises its option to exclusively license the program, it will have global rights to develop, manufacture and commercialise all products resulting from the collaboration.
“Molecular glue degraders are opening exciting new possibilities in cancer research by offering a way to eliminate disease-driving proteins rather than just blocking them,” said Flavius Martin, MD, Executive Vice President, Research, Gilead Sciences.
‘Selective kill’
“This mechanism aligns within our oncology scientific framework, where we evaluate therapeutic agents that selectively target and kill cancer cells with minimal impact on healthy tissue,” he said.
The pact with Kymera “to advance this novel oral program (has) the potential to drive meaningful improvements in the standard of care for patients living with breast cancer and other cancers that are inadequately served with existing therapies.”
Nello Mainolfi, PhD, Founder, President and CEO, Kymera Therapeutics, said: “Our highly specific, orally active, CDK2 molecular glue degraders have demonstrated a compelling preclinical profile and have the potential to transform the therapeutic landscape for breast cancer patients and other tumour types with high unmet medical need.”
Kymera’s pipeline
Kymera is a clinical-stage biotechnology company in the field of targeted protein degradation to address disease targets and pathways inaccessible with conventional therapeutics.
It has advanced the first degrader into the clinic for immunological diseases. Now the company’s focus is on building an industry-leading pipeline of oral small-molecule degraders to provide a new generation of convenient, effective therapies for patients with these conditions.
