The quirky chemical compound began as a lab parlor trick, then morphed into one of the most promising new drug strategies in years. An emerging class of drugs, called proteolysis-targeting chimeras, or PROTACs, has the potential to hit some of medicine’s most troublesome protein targets, such as the “undruggable” cancer-causing protein MYC and the tau protein that tangles up in Alzheimer’s disease. With the field on the cusp of its first clinical trial, this story describes the chemistry, history, and promise of this new and unusual drug strategy.
