Profile

Monte Rosa is working on molecular degraders often called molecular glues. These are small molecules that bind to the E3 ligase and modify its target. This will cause the E3 ligase to bind to the protein of the target and tag it for degradation. Then the protein will be loaded into the Proteasome for degradation. These molecular glues tend to be smaller than the bifunctional degrader, but they also can have more off target effects.

Management

I have been following Monte Rosa and Markus Warmuth for about a year now. I know they don't present or go to many of the conferences. I think that makes me more cautious of them as I don't get to hear them often to see how they are developing the company. They are starting clinical trials, and we will have to wait and see the data.

Science

MRT-2359 targets GSPT1 which is a protein in the termination of the Myc gene. This will prevent the transcription of the Myc gene. This inhibits Myc which is a key growth factor in cancer. This is being developed for Myc driven cancers. They are targeting NSCLC and SCLC for the indications. This is in phase 1, but has no data yet.

NEK7 is part of the inflammasome which forms in response to Toll Like Receptor activation. It goes on to activate the IL-1 inflammatory cytokine. The NEK7 plays a role in NLRP3 that takes inactive IL-1 and changes it into the active form of IL-1. This could have a large potential application in inflammatory diseases.

CDK2 is a Cyclin Dependent Kinase that participates in the cell cycle. The CDK2 works with Cyclin E to activate transcription factor RB that activates the genes in starting DNA replication. This can work in combination with CDK4/6 inhibitors. This is still in early discovery.

VAV1 is a guanine exchange factor that lies in the activation pathway for T cell and B cell receptors. This could have an effect in a broad range of T cell and B cell cancers. It is still in early discovery.

Valuation

Cash $274 million

MRT-2359 is targeting NSCLC which has a very large patient population. Depending on the data, it could reach $1 billion in sales. It's still in early phase 1 so I would only give it a .1 multiplier. That makes it worth about $100 million in value.

NEK7 could be a huge indication for inflammatory disorders. It would depend on the data and which diseases it works in. There is still a lot to discover on this program. I would give it at least $50 million value

CDK2 is another good target with a good size indication, but there are some others in this CDK2 space like Blueprint. I would have to see the data and compare the programs to really know what this would be worth. I would give it a small $50 million value for something this early.

VAV1 could be a very important target in both T cell and B cell cancers. It would depend on the data. I think it could be worth another $50 million value until we see some data.

All in, that is a $424 million market cap. Based on the 48 million shares outstanding, that comes to $8.83.

Partnerships

Coming Soon

Events

MRT-2359 Phase 1 Ongoing

NEK7 Preclinical

CDK2 Preclinical

VAV1 Preclinical

Data Readouts

No Data Yet

Company Website Links

Press Releases

Events & Presentations

SEC Filings