BeiGene said it will take on an early-stage drug for solid tumors with MTAP deletion for $150 million upfront and “time-based payments,” in a move that would put it in a contest with Ideaya’s combo strategy.
BeiGene, which has plans to
rebrand itself
as BeOne,
will also pay
future milestones and royalty fees to CSPC Zhongqi Pharmaceutical Technology. In exchange, the pharma company will get global rights to the MAT2A inhibitor dubbed SYH2039, according to a Thursday release.
It said it plans to investigate that drug in combination with its Phase 1 PRMT5 inhibitor, codenamed BGB-58067. This plan is reminiscent of Ideaya’s vision for a combined approach for the MAT2A inhibitor IDE397
plus a PRMT5 inhibitor
by Amgen (AMG 193). There is
preclinical data
exploring IDE397 with a Bristol Myers Squibb asset (BMS-986504).
In October, Ideaya
touted early-stage data
for IDE397 monotherapy showing that nine out of 27 patients responded to the treatment, which calculates to a 33% overall response rate. In 2022,
GSK passed
to take the drug.
MTAP deletion is estimated to occur in 15% of all cancer types including pancreatic cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. MTAP deletion results in unregulated DNA synthesis and the formation of tumors.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to clarify Ideaya’s combo plans.