On January 9, 2014 FORMA Therapeutics reported the achievement of several discovery milestones in their alliance with Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) for the discovery of novel drug candidates against protein-protein interactions (PPI) for the treatment of cancer (Press release, Forma Therapeutics, JAN 9, 2014, View Source [SID:1234509339]).
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"Targeting PPIs is highly attractive for therapeutic intervention because they play a vital role in virtually all cellular processes. FORMA’s discovery engine has garnered critical insights into PPIs, which now instruct and guide our drug discovery initiatives."
"Our recent successes within the BI partnership, an agreement originally announced in January 2012, demonstrate FORMA’s ability to execute and deliver on challenging goals," said Steven Tregay, Ph.D., President and CEO, FORMA Therapeutics. "Targeting PPIs is highly attractive for therapeutic intervention because they play a vital role in virtually all cellular processes. FORMA’s discovery engine has garnered critical insights into PPIs, which now instruct and guide our drug discovery initiatives."
As part of the PPI alliance, BI has formally internalized novel compounds for an oncology-relevant PPI program from FORMA. Further, FORMA will continue to conduct screening within the alliance, has expanded chemistry resourcing to prosecute validated scaffolds, and will continue to further interrogate additional targets named within the agreement. FORMA will receive undisclosed payments as part of these recent scientific advancements.
Kenneth W. Bair, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Research and Development, FORMA Therapeutics noted, "The combination of our cell-based screening technology (MAPPIT) and biochemical assay platforms provides a rapid way to screen for PPI inhibitors in two parallel formats, each offering distinct advantages. Further, integrating data from FORMA’s X-ray crystallography efforts across product pipeline targets with CS-Map technology interrogation of the surfaces for all human proteins in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) (~16,000) enabled the design and synthesis of shape-directed compound libraries biased toward shapes of druggable pockets on protein surfaces. The conformational flexibility of these novel molecules has proven essential to identify potential chemical starting material for PPIs of interest."