Atavistik Bio Partners With Roche on Allosteric Drug Discovery

Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., September 24, 2026

Atavistik Bio and Roche Target CVRM Diseases

The collaboration is focused on discovering novel small-molecule therapeutics for cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases, collectively referred to as CVRM conditions. Atavistik Bio’s AMPS platform is designed to identify previously unexplored or cryptic binding pockets on disease-relevant proteins. These allosteric sites can provide alternative locations for modulating protein function compared with conventional approaches that target active sites. The company says its platform uses the inherent allosteric activity of endogenous metabolites to identify functional binders to biologically relevant pockets, followed by structure-based drug design and chemistry optimization. Through the Roche collaboration, this discovery approach will be applied to multiple targets selected for CVRM disease research.

$70 Million Upfront and Potential $1.9 Billion Milestones

Financial terms of the agreement include a $70 million upfront payment to Atavistik Bio, with the biotechnology company eligible for up to $1.9 billion in additional research, development and commercial milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties on future net sales of any medicines successfully developed and approved through the collaboration. The structure assigns different responsibilities to the two companies across the drug-development process. Atavistik will conduct discovery and research activities for the selected targets, while Roche will take responsibility for later-stage preclinical development, clinical development, regulatory submissions and commercialization. The arrangement gives Atavistik an opportunity to apply its discovery platform beyond its internally focused rare-hematology programs while bringing Roche’s disease biology and drug-development capabilities into the partnership.

AMPS Platform Expands Allosteric Drug Discovery

Atavistik Bio’s AMPS™ platform is central to the collaboration. The company’s discovery strategy focuses on identifying functional allosteric pockets that can enable selective modulation of proteins that may be difficult to address using conventional small molecules. According to Atavistik, the platform has been applied across different protein classes, including transcription factors, membrane proteins and large protein complexes. Once a functional pocket is identified, the company uses structure-based drug design and chemistry to develop molecules with desired potency and selectivity characteristics. Atavistik’s internal pipeline remains focused on rare hematology, including ATV-1601, an investigational oral allosteric AKT1-selective inhibitor for hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, and a JAK2 V617F mutant-selective inhibitor program for myeloproliferative neoplasms.

The Roche collaboration expands the potential application of Atavistik’s allosteric discovery technology into CVRM drug development. Roche has identified treatment of cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases as an area of strategic interest, while Atavistik contributes its specialized platform for discovering selective allosteric small molecules. The partnership follows Atavistik’s previous research collaboration with Pfizer, demonstrating the company’s strategy of using external partnerships to extend its discovery platform into additional therapeutic areas while continuing its own internal pipeline. The new agreement does not represent an approved medicine or clinical-stage product from the collaboration; the programs will first need to progress through drug discovery and preclinical development, followed by clinical and regulatory evaluation before any potential medicines could reach patients.

Source: Atavistik Bio, Roche press release