Novartis agreed to fund Antares Therapeutics with $105 million upfront and total consideration up to $1.9 billion to discover small-molecule programs against oncology targets deemed “undruggable.” Antares, which spun out of Scorpion Therapeutics about a year ago, will deliver candidate programs under a partnership designed to create new chemical starting points. For drug discovery and oncology pipeline builders, the deal is another example of large pharma outsourcing early creative chemistry to platform-style discovery organizations when targets lack established binders.