The term “molecular glue” has become a well-known phrase in oncology, and Crews is one of the reasons why.
With his labmates at Yale, Crews has spent decades researching ways to repurpose the cell’s so-called garbage disposal system against cancer. In 2003, he formed Proteolix, the company that discovered the cancer drug Kyprolis. By locking on to the cell’s protein-shredder, the proteasome, Kyprolis causes a pileup of waste that destroys malignant myeloid cells.
