Biogen invests in neuroscience start-ups C4 and Skyhawk

In a deal potentially worth $415 million, Biogen and C4 Therapeutics will jointly develop protein degraders for neurological conditions, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. While conventional small-molecule drugs typically inhibit protein function, degraders force bad-behaving proteins to be tagged for the cellular trash bin. Separately, Biogen will work with Skyhawk Therapeutics to develop small molecules that modulate RNA splicing—the way that stretches of RNA are pieced together to form the code for building a protein. Skyhawk will get $74 million up front to develop treatments for neurological diseases.