Roche Partners with Flare Therapeutics in $1.87B Deal to Develop Novel Small Molecule Drugs Targeting Undrugged Transcription Factors in Oncology

Nov 12, 2024 21:49 CST Updated 21:49

Flare Therapeutics

Small Molecule Drug Developer

Roche

Oncology Drug Research, Development, and Manufacturing

November 12,Cambridge, Massachusetts – Flare Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company targeting transcription factors to discover precision medicines in oncology and other therapeutic areas, announced a strategic discovery collaboration with Roche. This partnership will leverage Flare Therapeutics' proteomics and mass spectrometry platform and expertise, supported by its proprietary electrophilic compound library, to discover novel small-molecule drugs targeting previously undruggable transcription factors in oncology.Over $200 Million in Financing! Supported by Pfizer, Novartis, and Eli Lilly to Develop New Transcription Factor Drugs）

As part of the collaboration, Flare Therapeutics will receive an upfront payment of $70 million and is eligible for discovery, development, and commercialization milestone payments potentially exceeding $1.8 billion, as well as royalties. Flare Therapeutics will lead discovery and preclinical activities targeting multiple transcription factor targets in oncology, while Roche will leverage its industry-leading expertise in oncology to further advance the preclinical and clinical development and commercialization of potential products arising from the collaboration.

In addition, Flare Therapeutics retains the right to co-fund the development of one target under the collaboration in exchange for increased royalties on that target in the United States. Flare Therapeutics will retain ownership of its existing pipeline, including its lead clinical-stage program FX-909 for late-stage urothelial cancer, its prostate cancer program entering IND-enabling studies, and other discovery and early-stage development programs in oncology and other therapeutic areas.

Rob Sims, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer and Co-founder of Flare Therapeutics, said:"Roche is the ideal partner for Flare Therapeutics as we share a commitment to addressing the most challenging disease areas with novel approaches and overcoming the difficulties of drugging transcription factors. Our platform and expertise have rapidly advanced a clinical-stage pipeline, demonstrating the immense potential of our approach. This collaboration will accelerate the expansion of our capabilities, enabling us to develop therapies targeting transcription factors associated with high unmet medical needs. By combining Roche's expertise, our goal is to successfully pursue challenging transcription factor targets, with the ultimate aim of providing new interventions for patients who currently lack standard-of-care treatment options."

Boris L. Zaïtra, Head of Roche Business Development, stated:"We are delighted to partner with Flare Therapeutics, combining our leading expertise and global presence in oncology with Flare’s deep knowledge in drug discovery for challenging transcription factor targets. Transcription factors play a crucial role in various cancer types and have the potential to address significant unmet medical needs. We look forward to developing therapies that have never been available before."

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