EISAI AND FORMA THERAPEUTICS ENTER INTO BROAD DRUG DISCOVERY COLLABORATION

Eisai Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tokyo, President & CEO: Haruo Naito, “Eisai”) announced today that its U.S. subsidiary Eisai Inc. has entered into a broad strategic drug discovery collaboration with FORMA Therapeutics (Headquarters: Massachusetts, United States, President & CEO: Steven Tregay, “FORMA”).

Under the terms of the agreement, Eisai will have non-exclusive access to FORMA’s Diversity Oriented Synthesis (DOS) chemistry-generated compound library and cell-based screening platforms to support the discovery of novel compounds for Eisai’s pipeline. In addition, Eisai has an option for technology transfer of FORMA’s cell-based screening platform.

FORMA will receive upfront payments and committed funding over three years and is eligible to receive additional milestones plus royalties on future products that Eisai may commercialize as a result of this collaboration.

FORMA’s unique drug discovery capabilities will enable Eisai to access diversified chemistry and drug discovery technologies to identify novel drug candidates for otherwise difficult targets. As part of its product creation strategy to increase access to external innovation, Eisai believes that the collaboration with FORMA will allow for synergistic capabilities that lead to the creation of breakthrough treatments to satisfy unmet medical needs.

Eisai positions oncology as a therapeutic area of focus and is committed to accelerating the development and discovery of potential cancer treatments such as small molecule anticancer agents, monoclonal antibody-based therapies, therapeutic vaccines and supportive care agents. The collaboration with FORMA will provide Eisai with the opportunity to incorporate new technologies created using a combination of organic chemistry and biochemistry into the drug discovery process and, subsequently, to deliver the resulting therapies as new treatment options to patients and their families.

[ Please refer to the following notes for further information on FORMA Therapeutics and FORMA’s integrated drug discovery platform ]

Media Inquiries:

Public Relations Department,
Eisai Co., Ltd.
+81-(0)3-3817-5120

< Notes to editors >

1. About FORMA Therapeutics

FORMA Therapeutics unlocks intractable targets to create transformative small molecule therapies in oncology. FORMA is creating a pipeline of products by applying its proprietary cell-based screening, structure-guided drug discovery and Diversity Oriented Synthesis (DOS) technologies. FORMA also uses its discovery technology to create novel compounds for its partners in many therapeutic areas. FORMA is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States, with additional research operations in Connecticut and Singapore.
www.formatherapeutics.com

2. About FORMA’s Integrated Drug Discovery Platform

FORMA is uniquely positioned through its combination of technological capabilities and oncology expertise to access novel targets and to develop a new generation of breakthrough oncology drugs. Some of the key features of FORMA’s discovery capabilities include:

  • Versatile cell-based screening platform which allows the screening of discrete targets in cells and quantitative genome/proteome-wide profiling and target identification.
  • Accessing new chemical space through structure guided drug discovery (SGDD) approaches leveraging proprietary computational and structural biology combined with an integrated chemistry platform which incorporates Diversity Oriented Synthesis (DOS).
  • DOS combines the high stereochemical and structural diversity found in natural products with traditional combinatorial chemistry techniques.