C4 Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CCCC) expanded its long-term partnership with Roche on April 9, 2026 to discover and develop degrader-antibody conjugates (DACs) for oncology. The agreement covers two collaboration-exclusive programs, an option for a third target, and combines C4T’s TORPEDO platform with Roche’s ADC expertise.
Financial terms include a $20 million upfront payment, additional payment if Roche exercises a third-target option, near-term discovery milestones, eligibility for over $1 billion in discovery, regulatory and commercial milestones, and tiered royalties on future sales.
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Positive
$20 million upfront payment to C4T
Eligible for over $1 billion in milestone payments
Roche to handle preclinical, clinical and commercialization
Collaboration covers two programs with option for a third
Negative
Roche holds responsibility for advancing DAC candidates through development
Tiered royalties are subject to reductions under certain contract terms
Targets are undisclosed, limiting near-term program transparency
-2.41%
News Effect
+27.7%
Peak Tracked
-17.5%
Trough Tracked
-$7M
Valuation Impact
$282.98M
Market Cap
2.2x
Rel. Volume
On the day this news was published, CCCC declined 2.41%, reflecting a moderate negative market reaction.
Argus tracked a peak move of +27.7% during that session.
Argus tracked a trough of -17.5% from its starting point during tracking.
Our momentum scanner triggered 37 alerts that day, indicating elevated trading interest and price volatility.
This price movement removed approximately $7M from the company’s valuation, bringing the market cap to $282.98M at that time.
Trading volume was elevated at 2.2x the daily average, suggesting increased selling activity.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.
Upfront payment
$20 million
Roche collaboration upfront for two DAC oncology programs
Milestone potential
Over $1 billion
Discovery, development and commercial milestones from Roche deal
Oncology targets
2 targets
Initial DAC programs under new Roche collaboration
Optional target
Third target option
Additional payment if Roche exercises option for a third target
Shelf registration size
$400,000,000
Total amount under S-3 shelf filed Nov 21, 2025
ATM capacity
$125,000,000
Common stock under ATM program within the S-3 shelf
Current price move
5.84%
Price change over 24h before article publication
52-week range position
24.08% below high
Price vs 52-week high of $3.82
$2.54
Last Close
Volume
Volume 1,639,107 vs 20-day average 1,963,414 (relative volume 0.83).
normal
Technical
Price $2.90, trading above 200-day MA at $2.36 and 24.08% below 52-week high $3.82.
CCCC is up 5.84% while close peers show mixed moves: ELTX -2.78%, IPHA -2.68%, NTHI -10.5%, TRDA +0.42%, SLS +1.46%, indicating a stock-specific reaction.
Date
Event
Sentiment
Move
Catalyst
Mar 25
Phase 1b trial start
Positive
+7.6%
First patient dosed in Phase 1b cemsidomide plus elranatamab trial.
Mar 09
Inducement grant
Neutral
-13.1%
Stock option inducement grant to new employee under Nasdaq Rule 5635(c)(4).
Feb 26
Earnings and update
Positive
+0.4%
Reported 2025 results, cash runway to end 2028, and program progress.
Feb 23
Conference participation
Neutral
+6.5%
Announcement of participation in March healthcare conferences with webcasts.
Feb 23
Phase 2 trial start
Positive
+6.5%
First patient dosed in Phase 2 MOMENTUM trial of cemsidomide in myeloma.
Pattern Detected
Stock often reacts positively to clinical and partnership/pipeline milestones, while administrative updates can see negative or muted moves.
Recent Company History
Over the last few months, C4 Therapeutics reported 2025 financials with $297.1M in cash funding operations to the end of 2028, advanced cemsidomide into a Phase 2 MOMENTUM trial targeting ~100 patients, and initiated combination development plans with elranatamab. News on trial initiations and conference participation saw price gains of 6–7.6%, while an inducement grant announcement corresponded with a -13.09% move. Today’s Roche collaboration extends this strategy of leveraging partnerships for targeted protein degradation in oncology.
$400,000,000
registered capacity
An effective S-3 shelf filed on Nov 21, 2025 registers up to $400,000,000 of securities, including up to $125,000,000 of common stock under an at-the-market program. The shelf is intended to provide flexible access to capital for research, development and pipeline expansion and had no recorded usage in the provided data.
This announcement expands C4 Therapeutics’ long-standing Roche partnership into degrader-antibody conjugates, adding a $20 million upfront payment and eligibility for over $1 billion in milestones plus royalties. It builds on recent progress with cemsidomide and multiple clinical trials. Investors may monitor execution on the DAC programs, future milestone triggers, and capital usage under the existing $400,000,000 shelf registration alongside previously disclosed net losses and cash runway to the end of 2028.
degrader-antibody conjugate
medical
“new collaboration agreement with Roche to advance research in the emerging degrader-antibody conjugate (DAC) modality”
A degrader-antibody conjugate is a targeted therapeutic that combines an antibody — a molecule that seeks out a specific protein on cells — with a small molecule that tags that protein for destruction inside the cell. Think of it as a guided recycling label: the antibody finds the problem protein and the attached tag sends it to the cell’s disposal system. For investors, these conjugates promise highly selective ways to remove disease-causing proteins, which can increase effectiveness and reduce side effects compared with traditional drugs, but they also carry development and regulatory risk as a newer approach.
DACs
medical
“Agreement Focused on Developing DACs With Payloads For Two Oncology Targets”
Deferred acquisition costs (DACs) are the upfront sales and onboarding expenses an insurance or financial firm incurs when winning a new contract—commissions, underwriting and policy-setup costs—that the company records as an asset and gradually spreads against future revenue, like treating a big sign-up fee as a series of monthly payments. Investors watch DACs because they affect reported profits, cash-flow timing and the valuation of long-term contracts: rising DACs can signal growth investment but also potential future write-down risk if expected future revenue falls short.
antibody-drug conjugation
medical
“combine antibody-drug conjugation (ADC) and targeted protein degradation (TPD)”
Antibody-drug conjugation is the process of chemically linking a disease-targeting antibody to a powerful drug so the antibody acts like a guided delivery vehicle, carrying the drug directly to affected cells while sparing healthy tissue. For investors, this matters because successful conjugation can boost a therapy’s effectiveness and safety, but it also raises development, manufacturing and regulatory complexity that can affect clinical success, timelines and costs.
ADC
medical
“combine antibody-drug conjugation (ADC) and targeted protein degradation (TPD)”
An antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) is a targeted cancer medicine that pairs an antibody that recognizes specific markers on tumor cells with a potent cell-killing drug, connected so the toxic payload is delivered directly to the cancer. For investors, ADCs matter because successful ADCs can improve patient outcomes and reduce side effects compared with traditional chemotherapy, shaping clinical trial success, regulatory approval chances, commercial demand, and a company’s valuation much like a guided missile versus a general bomb.
targeted protein degradation
medical
“drive research in targeted protein degradation and to establish this modality”
Targeted protein degradation is a drug approach that uses small molecules to mark harmful or malfunctioning proteins inside cells so the cell’s own disposal system breaks them down, rather than simply blocking their activity. For investors, it matters because this method can potentially tackle diseases that traditional drugs cannot reach, offering a new class of therapies with broad commercial and patent potential—like switching from silencing a problem to removing it entirely.
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
04/09/2026 – 06:59 AM
Agreement Focused on Developing DACs With Payloads For Two Oncology Targets, With an Option for a Third Target
C4T to Develop Degraders With Payload Properties; Roche to Conjugate Payloads to Targeted Antibodies
C4T to Receive $20 Million Upfront Payment and Eligible to Receive Over $1 Billion in Discovery, Development and Commercial Milestones, in Addition to Future Royalties
WATERTOWN, Mass., April 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — C4 Therapeutics, Inc. (C4T) (Nasdaq: CCCC), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to advancing targeted protein degradation science today announced that it has entered into a new collaboration agreement with Roche (SIX: RO, ROP; OTCQX: RHHBY) to advance research in the emerging degrader-antibody conjugate (DAC) modality. Working together, C4T and Roche will combine antibody-drug conjugation (ADC) and targeted protein degradation (TPD) to develop a new way to treat cancers that leverages both the specificity and catalytic efficiency of degraders with the delivery capabilities of ADCs.
“For the past decade, C4T and Roche have worked together to drive research in targeted protein degradation and to establish this modality as a new way to treat cancer,” said Andrew Hirsch, president and chief executive officer of C4 Therapeutics. “Our new collaboration leverages C4T’s ability to design highly catalytic and selective degraders, as well as degrader payloads for DACs, alongside Roche’s extensive experience developing ADCs with specific binding. Together, these capabilities build a powerful new modality that can offer transformative medicines for patients.”
“Roche has been a believer in targeted protein degradation and its potential for differentiation early on, when partnering with C4T for the first time in 2016,” said Boris Zaïtra, head of corporate business development, Roche. “Our relationship with C4 Therapeutics is built on a decade of trust and shared scientific ambition. We are pleased to enter into our third collaboration, expanding our long-standing partnership to pioneer the emerging modality of degrader-antibody conjugates (DACs).”
Under the joint research plan, C4T and Roche will collaborate on two programs to develop DACs against undisclosed oncology targets exclusive to the collaboration. C4T will use its proprietary TORPEDO® platform to design degrader payload candidates. Roche will select and design the antibody as well as conjugate the antibody to the degrader payload. Roche will be responsible for advancing DAC candidates through preclinical and clinical development as well as commercialization.
C4T will receive a $20 million upfront payment for the two programs. Should Roche exercise its option for a third target, C4T will receive an additional payment. Across the collaboration, C4T will receive near-term discovery milestone payments. C4T is eligible to receive over $1 billion in discovery, regulatory and commercial milestone payments. In addition, C4T is entitled to tiered royalties on future sales, subject to reductions under certain circumstances as described in the collaboration agreement.
About Degrader-Antibody Conjugates (DACs)
ADCs over the last 15 years have made important contributions to cancer therapy, but their clinical utility has historically been challenged by a limited therapeutic margin. Degrader-based ADCs, or degrader-antibody conjugates (DACs), represent a potential step-change in this modality. By utilizing degrader payloads that target specific cellular dependencies, DACs offer a superior therapeutic index. These small-molecule degraders are characterized by a catalytic mechanism of action—a feature unique to this approach—rendering them exceptionally well suited for targeted antibody delivery.
About C4 Therapeutics
C4 Therapeutics (C4T) (Nasdaq: CCCC) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to delivering on the promise of targeted protein degradation science to create a new generation of medicines that transforms patients’ lives. C4T is progressing targeted oncology programs through clinical studies and leveraging its TORPEDO® platform to efficiently design and optimize small-molecule medicines to address difficult-to-treat diseases. C4T’s degrader medicines are designed to harness the body’s natural protein recycling system to rapidly degrade disease-causing proteins, offering the potential to overcome drug resistance, drug undruggable targets and improve patient outcomes. For more information, please visit www.c4therapeutics.com.
About the TORPEDO® Platform
The proprietary TORPEDO® platform drives C4 Therapeutics’s (C4T) efforts to create a new generation of small molecule medicines centered around heterobivalent degraders (BiDAC™ degraders), molecular glue degraders (MonoDAC® degraders) and degrader-antibody conjugates (DACs). The TORPEDO platform integrates DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology, a Cereblon toolkit, diverse chemical libraries, degrader design assisted by AI-driven ternary complex models and proteomics to selectively target disease-causing proteins. C4T utilizes the TORPEDO platform to design and develop highly catalytic, specific and potent degraders with the ability to penetrate the blood brain barrier across a range of clinically validated pathways and diseases that include oncology, inflammation and neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration. C4T further leverages the TORPEDO platform to develop payloads for degrader-antibody conjugates (DACs), an emerging modality for hard-to-treat cancers.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” of C4 Therapeutics, Inc. within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may include, but may not be limited to, express or implied statements regarding our ability to develop potential therapies for patients; the design and potential efficacy of our therapeutic approaches; the predictive capability of our TORPEDO® platform in the development of novel, selective, orally bioavailable BiDAC™ and MonoDAC® degraders; our ability to achieve potential future milestone or royalty payments; and our ability to fund our future operations. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs of future events and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. For a discussion of the risks and uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could cause our actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the section entitled “Risk Factors” in C4 Therapeutics’ most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and/or Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release and C4 Therapeutics undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.
Contacts:
Investors:
Courtney Solberg
Associate Director, Investor Relations
CSolberg@c4therapeutics.com
Media:
Loraine Spreen
Senior Director, Corporate Communications & Patient Advocacy
LSpreen@c4therapeutics.com
FAQ
What did C4 Therapeutics announce with Roche on April 9, 2026 (CCCC)?
They announced a collaboration to develop degrader-antibody conjugates (DACs) combining C4T design with Roche ADC expertise. According to C4T, the deal covers two exclusive oncology programs, an option for a third target, and joint research using C4T’s TORPEDO platform.
How much did C4 Therapeutics receive upfront from Roche in the DAC collaboration (CCCC)?
C4T received a $20 million upfront payment from Roche as part of the agreement. According to C4T, additional payments will occur if Roche exercises the third-target option plus near-term discovery milestones tied to the programs.
What is the total milestone potential in the C4T–Roche DAC agreement (CCCC)?
C4T is eligible to receive over $1 billion in discovery, regulatory and commercial milestone payments. According to C4T, the agreement also provides tiered royalties on future sales, subject to contractual reductions in some cases.
Who will develop and commercialize DAC candidates under the C4T and Roche collaboration (CCCC)?
Roche will be responsible for advancing DAC candidates through preclinical and clinical development and commercialization. According to C4T, Roche will design and conjugate antibodies to C4T-designed degrader payloads for the collaboration.
What role does C4 Therapeutics’ TORPEDO platform play in the Roche collaboration (CCCC)?
C4T will use its TORPEDO platform to design degrader payload candidates for the DAC programs. According to C4T, Roche will select antibodies and perform conjugation to create the degrader-antibody conjugates for further development.
Does the C4T–Roche agreement include an option for additional targets (CCCC)?
Yes, the collaboration includes an option for a third oncology target; exercising that option triggers an additional payment to C4T. According to C4T, the initial agreement explicitly covers two programs with the third-target option available to Roche.