Natural Sciences Active Updated Jul 29, 2026

Protacs: drugs that destroy their target instead of blocking it

Protacs, a drug class first proposed in 2001, grab a disease-causing protein and drag it to the cell's own disposal system rather than just binding and blocking it, letting them act on proteins long considered undruggable. The first protac drug won approval this year, two decades after the idea began as a lab curiosity, and the arc will run as more protacs move toward patients.