Antares Therapeutics Enters Agreement with Novartis to Discover, Develop and Commercialize First-in-Class Cancer Therapies

– Multi-target collaboration will leverage Antares’ proprietary discovery engine to generate highly selective small molecule medicines against historically undruggable oncology targets –

– Antares to receive $105M upfront and is eligible for up to $1.8B in additional option exercise, development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, plus tiered royalties on global net sales –

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Antares Therapeutics, Inc. (“Antares”), a biotechnology company developing first-in-class precision medicines for cancer and other serious diseases, today announced a strategic collaboration with Novartis to discover, develop and commercialize small molecule therapies against promising but historically undruggable oncology targets. The agreement underscores the productivity and breadth of Antares’ discovery capabilities, which have repeatedly delivered development candidates against targets long considered intractable.

Under the terms of the agreement, Antares will receive a $105 million upfront payment and is eligible to receive up to $1.8 billion in additional payments across programs, inclusive of option exercise, development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, as well as tiered royalties on global net sales up to the low double-digit range. Antares will lead all research and apply its proprietary discovery engine to a limited number of historically undruggable targets until option exercise. In parallel, Antares will continue to advance its wholly owned and partnered portfolio of precision medicines for cancer and other serious diseases.

“From the outset, our goal has been to build a discovery engine that systematically unlocks high-value, challenging targets and delivers first-in-class precision medicines,” said Adam Friedman, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Antares. “This collaboration lets us scale that engine alongside Novartis’ world-class development capabilities and global reach, so we can translate our science into transformative therapies for patients faster than either of us could alone. It builds on the work of a team that has consistently produced highly selective medicines against some of the hardest targets in drug discovery.”

The collaboration pairs Antares’ covalent drug discovery expertise – proprietary screening libraries, chemical proteomics capabilities, structure-driven computational chemistry and a machine-learning suite purpose-built for compelling first-in-class targets – with Novartis’ world-class R&D and global resources.

“Novartis is committed to advancing innovative approaches to cancer drug discovery and expanding the boundaries of what's possible in oncology treatment,” said Fiona Marshall, President of Biomedical Research at Novartis. “Many of the most compelling targets today in oncology have historically been considered undruggable. We believe this collaboration has the potential to unlock a new wave of targeted therapies and bring meaningful advances to patients.”

About Antares Therapeutics

Antares Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing transformational, first-in-class precision medicines with a focus on validated, undruggable targets in cancer and other serious diseases with large unmet need. Antares’ lead precision oncology program is expected to enter the clinic in 2026, with multiple additional programs in preclinical development. To learn more, visit www.antaresrx.com and follow us on LinkedIn.