On September 17, 2025 Amphista Therapeutics ("the Company" or "Amphista"), a leader in the discovery of next generation targeted protein degradation (TPD) medicines, reported first data on its SMARCA2 program including demonstrating exquisite selectivity of its sequentially bifunctional Targeted Glues for SMARCA2 over the closely related homolog, SMARCA4 (Press release, Amphista Therapeutics, SEP 17, 2025, View Source [SID1234656031]).

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Amphista has identified SMARCA2 Targeted Glues, which induce protein degradation via a novel mechanism and enable the development of smaller and more drug like molecules than conventional PROTAC binders. Amphista’s SMARCA2 Targeted Glues have demonstrated:

Novel mechanism of degradation: Amphista’s SMARCA2 Targeted Glue series induce degradation via induction of the E3 ligase DCAF16, a novel mechanism of degradation that goes beyond traditional TPD technologies.
Exquisite selectivity over SMARCA4: Through the generation of high-resolution cryo-EM, Amphista has learnt the structural basis for selectivity over SMARCA4 and has been able to design molecules with near complete selectivity for SMARCA2, with <5% SMARCA4 degradation observed.
Highly specific degradation of SMARCA2:Global proteomics profiling demonstrates statistically significant degradation of SMARCA2 vs >8000 other proteins, including SMARCA4.
Exceptional degradation kinetics: Amphista’s Targeted Glues are able to potently degrade >95% SMARCA2 within 4 hours.
CNS penetrance: Amphista has identified a series of SMARCA2 degraders that have demonstrated CNS penetration in vivo. This offers the potential to develop medicines which can treat CNS metastasis, which frequently occur in lung cancer.
Louise Modis, Chief Scientific Officer of Amphista Therapeutics, said: "We are excited by the quality of the profile we have been able to achieve with our selective SMARCA2 degraders. The bar for success is very high in this area and we believe achieving sufficient selectivity over SMARCA4 is absolutely critical to generate a best-in-class molecule. Through the extensive deployment of cutting-edge cryo-EM structures, we have been able to do just that – to generate Targeted Glues which degrade SMARCA2, and only SMARCA2, over sustained timepoints. In addition, we believe the impressive degradation kinetics we are able to achieve with our technology will give us a significant advantage clinically."

Amphista plans to present data from its SMARCA2 Targeted Glue program at a key forthcoming scientific conference.