$NRIX provided new insights today.

Monday, September 14, 2026 — Nurix Therapeutics (NRIX) used H.C. Wainwright’s 28th Annual Global Investment Conference to paint a clearer picture of the company’s journey from pure platform research to late-stage drug development. Management highlighted the strong clinical data for its lead BTK degrader, bexobrutideg, but also pointed out the remaining risks as the program progresses through regulatory trials.

The company’s message was reinforced by the partnership with Roche finalized in June. This agreement secures significant funding and global reach, but also increases the pressure to succeed in a crowded and highly competitive market. Nurix shares traded at $25.84, up 2.95% from the previous closing price of $25.10, trading near the high end of their 52-week range of $8.20 to $28.23.

Key Takeaways

• Nurix described the agreement with Roche as a transformative deal that includes an upfront payment of $700 million as well as development and commercial milestone payments of up to $2.3 billion.
• Bexobrutideg demonstrated response rates of 80% to 85% in patients with relapsed or refractory disease and 85% to 90% in more recent Phase I patient cohorts.
• Two regulatory trials are currently underway: a 100-patient study in chronic lymphocytic leukemia in later lines of therapy and a head-to-head comparison study with 620 patients against pirtobrutinib.
• Management argued that targeted protein degradation can be more effective than traditional inhibition because it removes the target protein rather than merely blocking one of its functions.
• Nurix also cited partnerships with Sanofi, Gilead, and Pfizer as evidence that the company’s platform is expanding beyond its lead compound.

Partnership with Roche and Financial Details

CEO Arthur Sands described the agreement with Roche as the most important recent development for Nurix. The deal, announced in June, includes an upfront payment of $700 million and milestone payments of up to $2.3 billion.

• Nurix retains a 50/50 profit-sharing arrangement for bexobrutideg in the United States.
• Roche will handle international development and commercialization, including sales outside the U.S.
• The partnership covers several potential indications for the drug, including chronic lymphocytic leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphomas, chronic spontaneous urticaria, and multiple sclerosis.
• According to management, Roche was selected following a competitive process based on its portfolio in the field of B-cell malignancies, its global infrastructure, and scientific compatibility.

Sands explained that the financial terms are unusually favorable for a biotech company of Nurix’s size. “We’re talking about a $700 million upfront payment and then up to an additional $2.3 billion in milestone payments,” he said, adding that the 50/50 structure in the U.S. was “probably even more significant.”

He went on to explain that Roche had identified a gap in its oncology portfolio. “We don’t have a core BTK mechanism of action in oncology,” Sands quoted Roche as saying, noting that the company’s fenebrutinib program is limited to multiple sclerosis.

Clinical Progress on Bexobrutideg

Bexobrutideg, referred to as “Bex” by Nurix, is a BTK degrader that removes the target protein from cells via the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Management explained that this approach could have a broader effect than inhibition, as it affects both the kinase and scaffold functions of BTK.

• Earlier Phase I data showed overall response rates of 80% to 85% in relapsed or refractory patients, including those who were resistant to BTK inhibitors.
• New data presented at the European Hematology Association Congress showed response rates of 85% to 90% in treatment-naive and second-line patients.
• Nurix stated that recruitment of treatment-naive patients proceeded faster than expected.
• No dose-limiting toxicities were observed at the 600 mg dose.
• Management drew a comparison to BeiGene’s competitive product, takabrutinib, which had shown a dose limit of 200 mg in early studies.

The company reported that bexobrutideg also exhibits brain penetration, with activity in patients with central nervous system involvement as well as in animal models. Sands said this could be significant in multiple sclerosis, where BTK activity in microglial cells could contribute to progressive nerve damage.

Regulatory Studies and Development Plans

Nurix is currently conducting two pivotal late-phase studies for bexobrutideg.

• DAYBreak CLL-201 is a study involving 100 patients in third-line and later-line therapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Recruitment is expected to be completed by the end of 2024 or in the first half of 2025.
• DAYBreak CLL-306 is a Phase III study involving 620 patients that compares bexobrutideg with pirtobrutinib in second-line patients.
• The second study is international in scope, with Roche leading recruitment outside the U.S. and in Asia.
• Management stated that the study in later lines of therapy could support an accelerated approval process.

Sands said the company views bexobrutideg as a versatile molecule that could be effective in various areas. He compared the BTK target to CD20 and explained that it could have a wide range of applications depending on drug design and disease profile.

Market Potential and Competitive Landscape

Nurix described the BTK market as large but still open to change. According to management, the current market for BTK inhibitors is approximately $10 billion annually, with ibrutinib once reaching $5 to $6 billion per year before losing ground due to off-target effects.

• Management estimated the commercial potential for bexobrutideg at $2 to $10 billion per year across all indications.
• The company explained that the treatment pathway for CLL has evolved from watch-and-wait through chemotherapy, BTK inhibitors, and BCL-2 inhibitors to non-covalent BTK inhibitors such as pirtobrutinib.
• Nurix argued that degrading the protein could offer an advantage, as the target protein is removed rather than just having part of it blocked.
• The company stated that BTK degradation could be 10 to 100 times more effective than BTK inhibition in inactivating B cells.

Management also addressed competition from other degraders. Sands noted that BeiGene’s takabrutinib had reported a 94% response rate in a small early-stage cohort, but argued that dose limitations and safety concerns remained key issues.

A Broader Pipeline Beyond Bexobrutideg

Nurix emphasized that its platform is supported by several collaborations beyond its lead BTK compound.

• The STAT6 degrader, a partnership with Sanofi, is in Phase I and has received more than $100 million in cash investments from Sanofi since 2019.
• Nurix explained that the STAT6 program could be a small-molecule version of DUPIXENT that targets the IL-4 and IL-13 signaling pathways via a transcription factor.
• The IRAK4 degrader, a partnership with Gilead, is completing Phase I.
• Data for both programs are expected in approximately 6 to 18 months.

Management said the STAT6 market could be very large and support more than one successful drug, citing early competition from Kymera. The company added that the IRAK4 program continues to proceed on schedule.

Degrader-Antibody Conjugates with Pfizer

Nurix also discussed a newer technology called degrader-antibody conjugates (DACs), which is being developed in collaboration with Pfizer. The company described the platform as a way to combine the targeted delivery of antibodies with the power of protein degradation.

• Management stated that a degrader molecule can degrade 10,000 target proteins per hour.
• This efficacy, it was said, could make degraders better payloads than conventional toxins or inhibitors used in antibody-drug conjugates.
• The company argued that inhibitor-based payloads could be limited by a 1-to-1 stoichiometric ratio.
• Nurix announced that its collaboration with Pfizer is progressing well.

Sands said the goal is to create a new generation of targeted drugs that can act within cells without causing widespread toxicity.

Management’s Scientific Perspective

Throughout the presentation, Nurix returned to the same scientific argument: Targeted protein degradation can achieve a more profound and sustainable effect than conventional inhibition.

• The approach utilizes the ubiquitin-proteasome system to remove disease-causing proteins from cells.
• For BTK, this means eliminating both its signaling and scaffolding functions.
• Management said this could be significant in blood cancers and in diseases such as multiple sclerosis, where BTK may play a role in the brain’s immune cells.
• Nurix explained that bexobrutideg’s ability to cross the blood-brain barrier could expand its use beyond oncology.

Sands said the partnership with Roche reflects this view. He described bexobrutideg as a molecule with broad potential across various therapeutic areas, backed by a partner with the scale needed to advance it globally.

Conclusion

Nurix left the conference with a message of progress, but also with the clear reminder that regulatory data will determine how much of this promise is translated into commercial value.