Roche Goes Shopping for Staples

Targeting intracellular protein-protein interactions is difficult because small molecules lack sufficient specificity, while molecules with higher specificity such as antibodies are too big to enter the cell. Aileron Therapeutics Inc. says its Stapled Peptide technology creates cell-penetrating peptides that provide antibody-like specificity.

A year after Roche's venture arm invested in the biotech's series D round, the pharma has placed a second bet on the technology in a collaboration to develop and market Stapled Peptide therapeutics...