Bristol Myers Squibb Enters Global Collaboration with Repare Therapeutics to Develop Innovative Synthetic Lethality Precision Therapies

Today, Repare Therapeutics, a company dedicated to leveraging CRISPR gene-editing technology to screen for “synthetic lethality”-based precision therapies, announced that it has entered into a global exclusive research collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) to jointly develop innovative “synthetic lethality” precision therapies.

The principle of "synthetic lethality" is to identify a pair of genes whose simultaneous mutation leads to cell death. This approach first identifies specific mutations in tumors and then finds the key targets that form synthetic lethality with them, thereby developing new drugs. Currently, several PARP inhibitors on the market are anticancer targeted therapies developed based on the principle of "synthetic lethality."

Repare Therapeutics’ SNIPRx platform is a genome-wide CRISPR screening method that leverages proprietary isogenic cell lines to identify novel and known synthetic lethal gene pairs based on tumor genetic profiles, as well as the corresponding patients most likely to benefit from this therapy.

▲Repare Therapeutics’ drug discovery process (Image source: Repare Therapeutics official website)

Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will leverage the SNIPRx platform to jointly discover multiple “synthetic lethality” precision oncology targets for the development of candidate drugs. Repare Therapeutics will grant Bristol-Myers Squibb exclusive global rights to develop and commercialize candidate drugs discovered under the collaboration.

As part of the agreement, BMS will pay an upfront fee of $65 million, which includes a $15 million equity investment. Repare Therapeutics will be eligible for milestone payments totaling up to approximately $3 billion, in addition to receiving royalties on sales of each product commercialized by BMS.

“BMS brings critical strategic capabilities and resources to this collaboration, maximizing the potential of our platform while allowing us to independently focus on our proprietary clinical and near-clinical programs,” said Mr. Lloyd M. Segal, President and Chief Executive Officer of Repare Therapeutics.

References:

[1] Repare Therapeutics Announces Multi-Target Discovery Collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb. Retrieved May 27, 2020, from http://www.reparerx.com/repare-therapeutics-announces-multi-target-discovery-collaboration-with-bristol-myers-squibb/

(Original Title: Developing Innovative "Synthetic Lethality" Precision Therapies, Bristol-Myers Squibb Strikes Partnership)

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