TPD the C4T Way

Since our founding in 2015, we have established ourselves as a leader in targeted protein degradation science (TPD), with a world-class platform shown to produce oral medicines that are highly active against their desired targets. With several oral oncology degraders in clinical development, our research is focused on advancing the next wave of targets to include those which have previously been considered undruggable.

Key elements of our approach to TPD include:

• Focus on catalytic efficiency

  Our degraders catalytically activate the E3 ligase and facilitate protein binding and ubiquitination, resulting in rapid overall target degradation. Our optimized degraders can repeat this process many times, with the same single degrader molecule interacting with and destroying many copies of the target protein. The fact that degrader molecules act as catalysts allows us to optimize our product candidates for catalytic degradation turnover. As a result, we create degrader candidates with high catalytic efficiencies that have the potential to provide a greater therapeutic effect.

• Investment in Cereblon as E3 ligase

  Cereblon, the only clinically validated E3 ligase for TPD, is universally distributed across all tissues and cellular compartments in the body. This wide distribution provides latitude as we select targets and disease indications to pursue. Through our investment in Cereblon, we have developed proprietary Cereblon binders that offer a powerful toolkit for degrader discovery.

By focusing on catalytic efficiency and leveraging Cereblon, we have built capabilities unique to the TPD field.  At C4 Therapeutics, we can:

• Design, analyze and predict degrader performance

  Through our TORPEDO® platform, we conduct an informed and efficient drug discovery process that supports rapid delivery of drug candidates.

• Develop MonoDAC™ and BiDAC™ degraders

  Rather than being limited to a single type of degrader to target disease-causing proteins, we have the flexibility to utilize either MonoDAC degraders (molecular glues) or BiDAC degraders (heterobifunctional degraders). This flexibility allows us to pursue a broad target landscape, and develop the appropriate degrader based on the features of the protein we are targeting for destruction.

Different Types of Protein Degraders