Monte Rosa Therapeutics, a biotechnology company originally formed as a spinout from science at The Institute of Cancer Research, London, partly funded by Cancer Research UK, is now listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York.
It was formed in collaboration with Versant Ventures's drug discovery engine Ridgeline Therapeutics and is listed under the ticker symbol GLUE.
Monte Rosa’s Initial Public Offering (IPO) – the process by which a company shifts from being privately owned to making its shares publicly available – raised more than $220 million.
Monte Rosa focuses on a drug strategy called protein degradation, which takes advantage of cells’ ability to clear damaged or unnecessary proteins. In particular, its focus is on the discovery and development of ‘molecular glues’, which direct the body’s natural degradation enzymes towards cancer-causing proteins.
The company was formed in 2018 with the involvement of two scientific founders from the ICR: our Head of Chemistry Professor Ian Collins, and our former Head of Cancer Therapeutics Professor Raj Chopra.
GSPT1 programme
Its lead drug programme comes from research geared towards targeting a protein called GSPT1, which was originally initiated by researchers at the ICR.
Professor Ian Collins, Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the ICR and a scientific founder of Monte Rosa Therapeutics, said:
“We’re very proud of our history and relationship with Monte Rosa Therapeutics. It’s great to see the progress of Monte Rosa through its new investment and expansion phase, which I’m sure will lead to more really exciting, collaborative science to develop promising drug candidates and eventually make a difference to cancer patients’ lives.”
Dr Toby Richardson, Head of Business Development and Licensing at the ICR, said:
“Here at the ICR we are proud of our very strong track record in the translation of our discoveries into patient benefit in partnership with companies – whether that’s through collaboration, licensing or, as with Monte Rosa Therapeutics, helping to found companies to develop new cancer treatments.”