Press Release

Enlaza Therapeutics Announces Strategic Collaboration With Vertex Pharmaceuticals

September 2, 2025

San Diego – September 2, 2025 – Cooley advised Enlaza Therapeutics, the first covalent biologics platform company, on its multi-target drug discovery collaboration with Vertex Pharmaceuticals, to utilize Enlaza’s proprietary War-Lock technology platform to develop small format drug conjugates and T-cell engagers for certain autoimmune diseases and improved conditioning in sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia.   

Under the terms of the collaboration, Enlaza will receive $45 million inclusive of an upfront payment and equity investment and is further eligible to receive more than $2 billion in future milestone payments, including research, development, regulatory and commercial milestones, plus tiered royalties on net sales. Enlaza will lead all research activities through development candidate nomination, and Vertex will subsequently lead all future research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of successful product candidates. Vertex will fund all research and development costs related to the four-year collaboration.

Lawyers Charity Williams, Emily Mason, Ken Rollins and Dylan Kornbluth led the Cooley team advising Enlaza.

About Cooley LLP

Clients partner with Cooley on transformative deals, complex IP and regulatory matters, and high-stakes litigation.

Cooley has nearly 1,400 lawyers across 19 offices in the United States, Asia and Europe, and a total workforce of more than 3,000 people.

This content is provided for general informational purposes only, and your access or use of the content does not create an attorney-client relationship between you or your organization and Cooley LLP, Cooley (UK) LLP, or any other affiliated practice or entity (collectively referred to as "Cooley"). By accessing this content, you agree that the information provided does not constitute legal or other professional advice. This content is not a substitute for obtaining legal advice from a qualified attorney licensed in your jurisdiction, and you should not act or refrain from acting based on this content. This content may be changed without notice. It is not guaranteed to be complete, correct or up to date, and it may not reflect the most current legal developments. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Do not send any confidential information to Cooley, as we do not have any duty to keep any information you provide to us confidential. When advising companies, our attorney-client relationship is with the company, not with any individual. This content may have been generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence (Al) in accordance with our Al Principles, may be considered Attorney Advertising and is subject to our legal notices.