GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has entered into a drug discovery alliance with Yale to design a potential new class of medicines that degrade disease-causing proteins.

Under the collaboration, GSK integrates its expertise in medicinal chemistry with Yale's work on proteolysis targeting chimeric molecules (PROTACs).

The PROTAC technology directs disease-causing proteins to a cell's garbage disposal where they can be destroyed.

Yale will be eligible for milestone and royalty payments for each protein-degrading drug that is discovered and developed, as per the agreement.

GSK Protein Degradation effort head Kris Famm said, "This partnership is exploring a new way for promising, but unproven therapeutic approaches to jump from the academic lab more quickly into the early stage pharmaceutical pipeline.