BOSTON & GHENT, Belgium--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 10, 2026--
Orionis Biosciences, a privately held, clinical-stage life sciences company pioneering proximity-induced therapeutic modalities, today announced a multi-year collaboration with Novartis to discover and design molecular glue drugs for challenging therapeutic targets across multiple disease areas. The collaboration expands the existing relationship between the companies and reflects a shared commitment to unlock the full value of induced proximity approaches in drug development.
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Under the terms of the agreement, Novartis and Orionis will use Orionis’s Allo-Glue™ platform, together with its AI-driven discovery engine, to accelerate target and ligase profiling and molecular glue optimization. These integrated capabilities enable the systematic discovery of small molecule glues that modulate therapeutic targets through induced proximity mechanisms. Orionis will receive an upfront payment of USD 40 million and is eligible to receive research, development, and commercial milestone payments of up to USD 1.4 billion, in addition to tiered royalties on net sales of collaboration products.
“We are proud to renew and expand our collaboration with Novartis,” said Niko Kley, Chief Executive Officer of Orionis Biosciences. “Having such a partner continue to engage deeply with us is a strong validation of the value of our molecular glue platform and the progress we have achieved toward rational and scalable discovery of this emerging drug class.”
“Our recent advances in AI and robotic automation have accelerated all aspects of molecular glue discovery, from systematic prioritization of productive target–ligase pairs to glue candidate discovery and optimization,” said Riccardo Sabatini, Chief Data Scientist at Orionis Biosciences. “This is exactly the kind of platform maturity that makes collaborations like this possible.”
“We are excited to deepen our collaboration with Orionis and to explore the full potential of molecular glue modalities across multiple therapeutic areas,” said John Tallarico, Head of Discovery Sciences at Novartis. “The Orionis platform offers an opportunity to rapidly uncover and design molecular glue mechanisms, enabling us to expand the horizon of targetable biology for future therapies.”
About Orionis Biosciences
Orionis Biosciences is a clinical‑stage life sciences company pioneering the systematic discovery and design of small and large molecule therapeutic modalities that act through molecular proximity mechanisms to impact challenging and traditionally elusive disease targets. The company’s proprietary Allo‑Glue™ small molecule platform enables functional reprogramming of proteins within living cells. Orionis has established advanced capabilities in chemical biology, artificial intelligence‑driven molecular design, and large‑scale cell‑based interrogation, enabling rational discovery of molecular glues for degradation, stabilization or modulation of target proteins. Orionis is advancing a diversified pipeline of programs in oncology and immunology and collaborates with leading biopharmaceutical companies to translate its technologies into transformative medicines.
To learn more, please visit www.orionisbio.com.
CEO Niko Kley, pictured with Chief Data Scientist Riccardo Sabatini and Chief Strategy Officer Giulio Draetta
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United States launched airstrikes early Wednesday against Iran after blaming Tehran for the crash of an American attack helicopter, and Iran fired back at countries in the region — another escalation that threatened to derail efforts to end the war.
Hours after Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan came under Iranian fire, U.S. President Donald Trump posted on his his Truth Social platform that Iran was taking “too long to negotiate a deal” and that “now they will have to pay the price.”
It wasn’t clear what exactly that would mean, but the back-and-forth strikes Wednesday again raised the question of how much pressure the deal can take before it cracks. The exchange of fire was the second time this week that such strikes have tested the ceasefire after Iran and Israel targeted each other on Monday.
Trump has repeatedly vacillated between expressing optimism over the talks and warning that he was ready to return to all-out war. Iran, meanwhile, has proved resilient despite having faced weeks of heavy bombing, betting that its ability to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz — a crucial passageway for the world’s oil and natural gas — gives it a strong bargaining chip.
Both countries seem to be looking for a way to end the conflict — if they can manage to sell it as a win at home. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appears intent on pursuing much more difficult goals: the collapse of Iran’s theocratic government, the elimination of its nuclear program, and the destruction of the Iranian-allied Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. That will make compromise much harder.
Netanyahu posted on X around the same time as Trump, again insisting that Iran could never have a nuclear weapon and defending Israel’s decisions to attack the Islamic Republic in the past.
Since the U.S. and Israel started the war with attacks on Iran on Feb. 28, the conflict has shaken the global economy, driven up energy prices around the world, and made many basics, including food, more expensive. Brent crude oil, the international standard, was at more than $91 a barrel on Wednesday, up more than 25% since the start of the war.
In the latest strikes, U.S. fighter jets targeted “air defense, ground control stations, and surveillance radar sites,” the military’s Central Command said. Iran acknowledged strikes around Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island, but gave no details on the damage.
“The operation was a proportional response to recent attacks on U.S. forces and international commercial ships transiting regional waters,” Central Command said.
Iran’s top diplomat vowed that there would be a response, and Tehran later claimed attacks in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.
Jordan said it shot down five incoming missiles, which Iran said targeted the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base. The base has hosted American F-35 fighter jets and other aircraft.
Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency carried a military statement saying there were no injuries and that explosives experts examined the debris from the interceptions.
Bahrain and Kuwait said they intercepted incoming fire, without elaborating.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the American attacks as a violation of Iranian sovereignty in calls with his counterparts from Turkey and Saudi Arabia “and emphasized the inherent right of self-defense, including reciprocal action,” according to a post on his office's Telegram channel.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said in televised comments Wednesday that in light of the new attacks, Iran would review its stance on negotiations to end the war.
The exchanges of fire came a day after a U.S. Army attack helicopter crashed near the Strait of Hormuz after colliding with an Iranian drone, according to a U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. It wasn’t clear whether the collision was intentional.
A drone boat rescued both of the helicopter’s aviators, and Trump said they were uninjured.
Guards aboard a cargo ship off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden exchanged fire with gunmen in a small boat and repelled their attack, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have said they will resume their attacks against Israel-affiliated ships in the Red Sea. Somali pirates have also become more active in the region.
The UKMTO later reported a fire in the engine room of a tanker in the Gulf of Oman, near the Strait of Hormuz, saying one person had been hurt and two others aboard were missing. It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the fire.
Before he accused Iran of downing the U.S. helicopter, Trump expressed renewed optimism over negotiations with Iran, but didn’t say why there was reason for hope.
While Trump, wary of high gas prices and upcoming congressional elections in November, seems to be looking for a quick win, he is also making demands that will be tough for Iran to swallow.
The U.S. wants to see Iran give up its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. While Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, that uranium is a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels.
Iran is refusing to give up the uranium and demanding relief from sanctions. It also wants the release of frozen assets even before a final agreement is in place, something rejected by Trump.
It's not clear how those differences can be bridged — and Trump has repeatedly threatened to walk away from the talks. On his Truth Social platform overnight he seemed to be warning again that he was ready to return to all-out war, posting a clip from the American TV series “The West Wing” with actor Martin Sheen as president bellowing: “We don’t come back with a proportional response, we come back with total disaster!”
Meanwhile, Iran has continued to insist that any deal to end the war must also end fighting between its ally Hezbollah and Israel. Instead, Israel has intensified its military campaign against the militant group.
Israel's military said on Wednesday it launched multiple strikes in southern Lebanon over the past day, targeting Hezbollah infrastructure.
An airstrike on a village east of Tyre killed at least six people, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported.
Associated Press writers David Rising in Bangkok; Bassem Mroue in Beirut; Michelle L. Price in New York; and Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.
People take shelter as air raid sirens warn of incoming Iranian missiles in Ramat Gan, Israel, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A projectile streaks through the sky over central Israel during an Iranian missile attack, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A cleric checks his cell phone on stage in front of a screen displaying portraits of the late Iranian revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, left, late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, center, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, during a pro-government gathering in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, June 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A woman walks past a mural depicting a U.S. aircraft carrier under missile attack in downtown Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
