Arvinas and Pfizer have been looking for a partner for their oral oestrogen degrader Veppanu since last September, and they’ve finally found one in Rigel Pharmaceuticals. The financial terms are an underwhelming $70m upfront, plus $15m in transition payments and up to $320m in milestones – dwarfed by the $650m upfront fee, plus $350m equity investment, that Pfizer gave Arvinas in 2021. However, since then it’s become clear that the asset had no future in the most lucrative setting, first-line breast cancer, and sales were going to be limited to ESR1 mutants in the second line – where the drug recently got the FDA nod. A clue about Veppanu’s sales potential could come from the other US approved oral oestrogen degraders, namely Menarini’s Orserdu and Lilly’s Inluriyo. Menarini is private, however, while figures for Inluriyo are very early – sales totalled $35m in the first quarter of 2026, following approval last September. Veppanu, meanwhile, will join Rigel’s disparate oncology portfolio, much of which has been licensed in. Rigel has shown before that it has a nose for a bargain, picking up Blueprint’s Gavreto for $15m in February 2024, just as Roche handed back rights. Gavreto sold $42m in 2025. Rigel’s oncology & related assetsProject/productDescriptionNoteTavalisseSYK inhibitorFDA approved Apr 2018 for chronic ITPRezlidhiaIDH1 inhibitorFDA approved Dec 2022 for r/r IDH1m AML; licensed from FormaGavretoRET inhibitorFDA approved 2020 for RET fusion-positive NSCLC & thyroid cancer; licensed from Blueprint (now Sanofi) after Roche handed back rightsVeppanuOral SERDFDA approved May 2026 for 2nd-line EGFRm ER+ve HER2-ve breast cancer; licensed from Arvinas & PfizerR289IRAK1/4 inhibitorPh1/2 in low-risk MDSSource: OncologyPipeline.
Arvinas and Pfizer have been looking for a partner for their oral oestrogen degrader Veppanu since last September, and they’ve finally found one in Rigel Pharmaceuticals. The financial terms are an underwhelming $70m upfront, plus $15m in transition payments and up to $320m in milestones – dwarfed by the $650m upfront fee, plus $350m equity investment, that Pfizer gave Arvinas in 2021. However, since then it’s become clear that the asset had no future in the most lucrative setting, first-line breast cancer, and sales were going to be limited to ESR1 mutants in the second line – where the drug recently got the FDA nod. A clue about Veppanu’s sales potential could come from the other US approved oral oestrogen degraders, namely Menarini’s Orserdu and Lilly’s Inluriyo. Menarini is private, however, while figures for Inluriyo are very early – sales totalled $35m in the first quarter of 2026, following approval last September. Veppanu, meanwhile, will join Rigel’s disparate oncology portfolio, much of which has been licensed in. Rigel has shown before that it has a nose for a bargain, picking up Blueprint’s Gavreto for $15m in February 2024, just as Roche handed back rights. Gavreto sold $42m in 2025.
Rigel’s oncology & related assets
| Project/product | Description | Note |
|---|
| Tavalisse | SYK inhibitor | FDA approved Apr 2018 for chronic ITP |
| Rezlidhia | IDH1 inhibitor | FDA approved Dec 2022 for r/r IDH1m AML; licensed from Forma |
| Gavreto | RET inhibitor | FDA approved 2020 for RET fusion-positive NSCLC & thyroid cancer; licensed from Blueprint (now Sanofi) after Roche handed back rights |
| Veppanu | Oral SERD | FDA approved May 2026 for 2nd-line EGFRm ER+ve HER2-ve breast cancer; licensed from Arvinas & Pfizer |
| R289 | IRAK1/4 inhibitor | Ph1/2 in low-risk MDS |
