Roche has signed a new collaboration agreement with C4 Therapeutics to jointly advance research in the field of degrader-antibody conjugates (DACs), aiming to introduce a new therapeutic modality for cancer.
According to the joint research plan, the companies will partner on two programmes for developing DACs against undisclosed oncology targets.
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C4 Therapeutics will use its TORPEDO platform for degrader payload design while Roche will manage antibody selection, conjugation, preclinical and clinical development, and commercialisation.
C4 Therapeutics will receive a $20m upfront payment and additional discovery milestone payments, with potential to earn more than $1bn in regulatory and commercial milestones, plus tiered royalties on future sales.
C4 Therapeutics president and CEO Andrew Hirsch said: “For the past decade, C4T and Roche have worked together to drive research in targeted protein degradation and to establish this modality as a new way to treat cancer.
“Our new collaboration leverages C4T’s ability to design highly catalytic and selective degraders, as well as degrader payloads for DACs, alongside Roche’s extensive experience developing ADCs with specific binding.”
“Together, these capabilities build a powerful new modality that can offer transformative medicines for patients.”
Roche corporate business development head Boris Zaïtra said: “Roche has been a believer in targeted protein degradation and its potential for differentiation early on, when partnering with C4T for the first time in 2016.
“Our relationship with C4 Therapeutics is built on a decade of trust and shared scientific ambition. We are pleased to enter into our third collaboration, expanding our long-standing partnership to pioneer the emerging modality of DACs.”
In February 2026, Roche obtained acceptance from the US Food and Drug Administration for its new drug application submitted for the giredestrant oral therapy, along with everolimus, to treat breast cancer.
