Cumulus Oncology and leadXpro Reach Key Milestone in GPR68 Drug Discovery Project
Wednesday, August 21, 2024
Cumulus Oncology, Europe's first biotech company dedicated to oncology innovation, has announced significant progress in its GPR68 drug discovery project in collaboration with leadXpro (LXP). This achievement has allowed Cumulus to license the small molecule compounds and associated intellectual property generated during the partnership, with plans to advance the program through lead optimization and further stages.
In July 2023, Cumulus Oncology and LXP initiated a collaboration aimed at developing small molecules targeting GPR68, a crucial proton-sensing G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), utilizing advanced computational, biophysical, and structural biology technologies. In a groundbreaking achievement, LXP successfully resolved high-resolution antagonist protein structures of GPR68, significantly accelerating compound design. Within less than 12 months, the partnership identified a series of potent and selective small molecules for potential therapeutic use in cancer and inflammation, culminating in this licensing milestone. The collaboration now transitions into an accelerated drug optimization phase, building on the advanced rational drug design and computational methodologies established.
LXP will receive a portion of future revenues from the commercialization of the project. While specific financial terms remain undisclosed, Cumulus plans to seek regulatory approval to commence clinical development through its Swiss-based portfolio company, GIO Therapeutics, established to advance a pipeline of GPCR-targeting assets. The GPR68 program is the inaugural project to be developed by GIO Therapeutics.
Cumulus Oncology’s CEO Clare Wareing said, “The LeadXpro team are world leading experts in GPCR drug discovery and deciphering membrane protein structures to improve human health. This successful collaboration, and the milestones achieved, have resulted in the licensing agreement between Cumulus and LXP, exemplifying the Cumulus model. Cumulus takes a platform and modality agnostic approach to identifying new targets and assets, seeking out opportunities that have the potential to transform therapeutic options for patients poorly served by existing treatments. When these assets reach key inflection points, they are taken forward in new companies that we create and manage.”
leadXpro’s Co-founder, CEO, and Chairman of the Board, Michael Hennig added, “We’re delighted to have achieved this major drug development milestone working with Cumulus Oncology. Clare and her team share our passion for structure-based drug discovery. Together we have achieved fantastic success with our medicinal, computational chemistry, biophysics and structural biology input in a short span of time. We are looking forward to continuing the collaboration on this therapeutically important proton sensing GPCR. This continues to be a very positive relationship and shows us to be the partner of choice for structure-based drug design of novel membrane protein targets.”
Source: globenewswire.com
