FORMA Reports Achievement of Early-stage Clinical Development Milestones for Assets Licensed Exclusively to Boehringer Ingelheim and Bristol-Myers Squibb

BI initiated a Phase 1 clinical trial for BI 1701963, a SOS1:KRAS inhibitor discovered in a partnership with FORMA that targets protein-protein interactions for the treatment of cancer. KRAS mutations occur in one in seven of all human metastatic cancers, making it the most frequently mutated cancer-causing oncogene. The selective inhibition of SOS1 is a therapeutic concept that could allow KRAS blockade irrespective of KRAS mutation type. In 2011, BI 1701963 was exclusively licensed to Boehringer Ingelheim, who is leading the program’s development. Financial terms are undisclosed. Preclinical data regarding the discovery and development of BI 1701963 was presented by BI at the AACR-NCI-EORTC International Conference on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics in October 2019.

BMS initiated an open-label, Phase 1B dose-escalation and expansion study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of CC-95775 (formerly FT-1101) in patients with advanced or unresectable solid tumors. CC-95775 is a pan-BET bromodomain inhibitor that was discovered under a partnership between FORMA and Celgene and exclusively licensed to Celgene in 2018. BMS is responsible for further development, and FORMA is eligible to receive potential milestone payments plus royalties for this and another asset based upon development, regulatory and sales objectives. FORMA recently presented data from a Phase 1 study of CC-95775 as a single agent in patients with relapsed or refractory hematologic malignancies at the 2019 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting (ASH).

Frank Lee, CEO of FORMA said, “FORMA has a deep history of collaboration, and I’m excited about the achievement of these clinical milestones announced today. Our partnership with BI was among the early drug discovery initiatives focused on difficult-to-drug protein-protein interactions in cancer. We are gratified to see this pan-KRAS inhibitor, which BI licensed following early discovery work by FORMA, advance into the clinic and potentially offer a much-needed new therapy for patients with limited treatment options.”

“In addition, our broad, multi-year collaboration with Celgene, since acquired by BMS, has yielded several novel candidates and valuable intellectual property, which is reflected in BMS’ and FORMA’s development pipelines. We are pleased to see the pan-BET inhibitor CC-95775 continue to advance in clinical studies with the potential to benefit patients with unresectable solid tumors,” Mr. Lee concludes.

About FORMA Therapeutics

FORMA Therapeutics is focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of transformative medicines for patients with rare hematologic diseases and cancers. A fully-integrated biopharmaceutical company, FORMA’s validated, proprietary R&D engine combines deep biology insight, chemistry expertise and clinical development capabilities to create differentiated drug candidates with best-in-class or first-in-class potential. FORMA has delivered high-value clinical candidates to its partners and generated a broad proprietary portfolio of programs, ranging from preclinical to pivotal-stage, with the potential to provide profound patient benefit. For more information, please visit the company website at www.formatherapeutics.com or follow us on Twitter @FORMAInc and LinkedIn.

SOURCE: FORMA Therapeutics

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