Introduction:
Viennese biotech QUANTRO Therapeutics has reached a milestone in its collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim, receiving a milestone payment for meeting all pre-set goals for technical proof-of-concept and identification of high-quality hits for an undruggable oncogenic transcription factor. The collaboration aims to develop small molecule drugs targeting specific oncogenic transcription factors.
- QUANTRO Therapeutics has reached a milestone in its collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim, receiving a milestone payment for meeting all pre-set goals for technical proof-of-concept and identification of high-quality hits for an undruggable oncogenic transcription factor.
- The collaboration aims to develop small molecule drugs targeting specific oncogenic transcription factors, which is a challenging task due to the lack of enzymatic activity and ‘ligandable’ pockets in these factors.
- QUANTRO Therapeutics has developed a drug discovery platform that uses cell-based assays to measure the incorporation of 4-thiouridine into RNA species, allowing for the study of RNA-polymerase-II-dependent gene expression dynamics in the context of total RNA.
- Boehringer Ingelheim’s venture fund and drug discovery CRO Evotec AG have invested €11m in QUANTRO to evaluate the technology.
- The milestone payment received by QUANTRO indicates the potential value of the collaboration, with a transaction value estimated to exceed €500m in R&D funding and potential milestones.
Conclusion:
QUANTRO Therapeutics has reached a key milestone in its collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim, receiving a milestone payment for meeting predetermined goals in the development of small molecule drugs targeting oncogenic transcription factors. The successful use of QUANTRO’s RNA sequencing technology in identifying high-quality hits for an undruggable target demonstrates the potential of this platform in drug discovery. The collaboration between QUANTRO and Boehringer Ingelheim shows promise in addressing the challenge of targeting oncogenic transcription factors and could lead to the development of innovative treatments for cancer.
