Vividion Therapeutics Doses First Patient in Phase Ib Combination Study of WRN Inhibitor VVD-214 in Patients with Advanced Colorectal Cancer

• VVD-214 targets Werner helicase (WRN), a synthetic lethal vulnerability in cancers with high microsatellite instability (MSI-high) or deficient mismatch repair (dMMR)
• Global Phase Ib clinical study will evaluate VVD-214 in patients with previously treated MSI-high or dMMR colorectal cancer
• Progress of VVD-214 demonstrates continued advancement of Vividion’s clinical development capabilities and the potential of its covalent-first chemoproteomics approach to unlock challenging drug targets

SAN DIEGO & BERLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vividion Therapeutics, Inc. (Vividion), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, and a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG, today announced that the first patient has been dosed in a Phase Ib combination clinical trial evaluating VVD-214, an investigational oral inhibitor of Werner helicase (WRN). The study is evaluating VVD-214 in combination with bevacizumab in patients with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-high) or deficient mismatch repair (dMMR) colorectal cancer whose disease has progressed following prior lines of therapy.

“Colorectal cancer remains one of the most common and challenging cancers to treat worldwide, and a substantial proportion of cases are driven by underlying defects in DNA repair,” said Aleksandra Rizo, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Vividion. “VVD-214 reflects Vividion’s continued focus on uncovering and advancing therapies against critical cancer dependencies that have historically been difficult to target, including WRN, with the potential to deliver new precision medicines that address this urgent need.”

VVD-214 is an investigational oral small-molecule inhibitor of WRN, a DNA repair enzyme that has emerged as a highly sought-after synthetic lethal target for cancers with microsatellite instability. Tumors that are MSI-high or dMMR rely on WRN to maintain DNA replication and repair despite their underlying genomic instability. By inhibiting WRN, VVD-214 is intended to cause lethal DNA damage in cancer cells while minimizing harm to normal cells, offering a potential precision medicine approach for patients with cancers such as colorectal, endometrial, ovarian and gastric tumors.

“Advancing precision oncology therapies for cancers driven by specific molecular vulnerabilities is a key focus of Bayer’s oncology strategy,” said Christian Rommel, Ph.D., Global Head of Research and Development at Bayer’s Pharmaceuticals Division. “Targeting WRN represents a promising new therapeutic approach for genetically distinct subsets of some of the most common cancers worldwide, and we are encouraged to see VVD-214 continue to advance through clinical development.”

The global Phase Ib clinical trial (NCT06004245) is planned to enroll patients at clinical sites across the U.S., Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Malaysia, South Korea, Spain, and the U.K. Preliminary data from the Phase Ia study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 2025 Annual Meeting showed that VVD-214 was well tolerated with early signals of activity.

About Vividion

Vividion Therapeutics, Inc., a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company utilizing novel discovery technologies to unlock difficult-to-drug targets with strong disease-links, and to develop small molecule precision therapeutics for devastating cancers and immune disorders. The company’s platform has enabled it to identify hundreds of previously unknown functional pockets on well-validated protein targets implicated in a wide range of diseases, while simultaneously identifying compounds from its proprietary covalent chemistry library that interact in a highly selective manner with those pockets. The company is leveraging its proprietary chemoproteomic platform to advance a diversified pipeline of highly selective small molecule therapeutics targeting high-value, traditionally undruggable targets in oncology and immunology. For more information, please visit www.vividion.com.

About Bayer

Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. In line with its mission, “Health for all, Hunger for none,” the company’s products and services are designed to help people and the planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. Bayer is committed to driving sustainable development and generating a positive impact with its businesses. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2025, the Group employed around 88,000 people and had sales of 45.6 billion euros. R&D expenses amounted to 5.8 billion euros. For more information, go to www.bayer.com.

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