An up­start pro­tein degra­da­tion con­tender adds Mer­ck KGaA and Bris­tol My­ers to its list of Big Phar­ma back­ers

Am­phista Ther­a­peu­tics may not be the best-known name in the pro­tein degra­da­tion wing of biotech, but it has some mar­quee phar­ma names back­ing its work. And this morn­ing, the biotech is adding two more: Mer­ck KGaA and Bris­tol My­ers Squibb.

The two multi­na­tion­als have signed on with Am­phista for a pair of dis­cov­ery deals. To­geth­er they are con­tribut­ing $74 mil­lion in cash up­fronts and R&D sup­port as the Cam­bridge-based op­er­a­tion pur­sues its work in a crowd­ed field. Mile­stones for both break the $2 bil­lion mark.

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