Orum Therapeutics said it has agreed to transfer all rights on ORM-6151, an acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome treatment candidate, to Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) in a $180 million deal.
Under the accord, BMS will pay Orum Therapeutics an upfront fee of $100 million and secure the ORM-6151 program. Orum can receive an additional $80 million milestone depending on the development process of the candidate.
However, even if the clinical development is successful and the drug is launched, Orum will not receive any additional royalties.
ORM-6151 is a first-in-class anti-CD33 antibody-based GSPT1 protein degrader drug, which has been approved for an FDA phase 1 clinical trial plan to treat patients with AML or high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome.
“BMS is a global leader in the field of cancer treatment with a long tradition in the field of protein degradation, and this contract proves the technical potential of Orum’s self-developed Dual-Precision Targeted Protein Degradation platform,” Orum Therapeutics Founder and CEO Lee Sung-joo said.
Orum is leading the approach of specifically delivering targeted protein degraders to cancer cells in the form of ADCs to broaden the therapeutic window of the drug and maximize the potential of targeted protein degraders, he added.
Meanwhile, Orum recently attracted a total investment of 26 billion won ($19.9 million) from existing and new investors in June.
New investors, such as Crystal Bioscience and STIC Ventures, as well as existing shareholders, including KB Investment and IMM Investment, participated in this bridge series investment.
A company official stated that the funds would be used for research and development costs of their platform, which conjugates proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) and E3 ligase inhibitors to antibodies in the form of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).
Orum Therapeutics also unveiled the design of the first phase 1 clinical trial for ORM-5029, a GSPT1 degrader targeting HER2-expressing advanced solid tumors, at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference in the U.S. in June.