WATERTOWN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FORMA Therapeutics announced today its Asset Discovery and Development Company (“ADDCo”) platform, an initiative in which FORMA will join forces with select academic, not-for-profit and venture philanthropy institutions to transform basic research discoveries into life-saving therapies. The creation of a virtual ADDCo brings together academic thought leaders with FORMA’s ultra-efficient drug discovery engine and world class development network to rapidly execute on a compelling area of science. The ADDCos will span multiple therapeutic areas with the near term focus being oncology and rare genetic disorders.
“Our introduction of the ADDCo platform is designed to facilitate the transition of scientific innovations into value-added intellectual property and address the challenges in building and financing early stage start-up companies,” stated Steven Tregay, Ph.D., President and CEO of FORMA Therapeutics. “This streamlined approach to early-stage R&D integrates capabilities across multiple organizations into a unified project team and provides for optimal financial returns to scientific founders, institutions and investors.”
“FORMA hopes to attract unique research alliances that will expand its access to cutting edge science,” stated Kenneth W. Bair, Ph.D., CSO and Head of R&D of FORMA Therapeutics. “Annually, FORMA typically screens 30 to 40 targets and generates upwards of 100,000 novel compounds to support our drug discovery efforts. Our ability to rapidly provide pure, selective, potent tool compounds to our academic collaborators provides a unique opportunity to dissect the biology around families of targets.”
Peter Wirth, Chairman of FORMA Therapeutics’ Board of Directors noted, “In today’s health care ecosystem, diverse parties must come together to successfully transform scientific innovations into commercialized drugs. Additional stakeholders, including not-for-profits, patients and venture philanthropists are joining industry and academic investigators to evolve the drug development paradigm, and we are excited to be one part of this broader trend.”
About ADDCos
ADDCos, or Asset Discovery and Development Companies, are virtual NewCos created to integrate and focus the activities of multiple institutions on a novel target. The ADDCo structure allows innovators to contribute their defined expertise within a framework and to apply basic and translational research methodologies to bring projects to value inflection points and rapidly create new medicines for patients.
About FORMA
FORMA Therapeutics targets essential cancer pathways to create transformative small molecule cancer therapies. FORMA’s novel approach to accessing high value drug targets, many of which pose significant challenges to conventional discovery approaches, leverages the integration of its innovative drug discovery technologies and oncology expertise, enabling efficient screening, discovery and rational development of small molecule drug candidates with qualified cellular mechanisms of action. FORMA is leveraging translational and clinical development capabilities through their strategic relationship with Dr. Daniel Von Hoff and Translational Drug Development (TD2) to build a robust pipeline of transformative cancer therapies in areas such as tumor metabolism, epigenetics, protein homeostasis, and protein-protein interactions. FORMA is headquartered in Watertown, MA. www.formatherapeutics.com
