Tavros Therapeutics and OpenBench Expand Strategic Collaboration for Small Molecule Drug Discovery

Multi-target collaboration leverages Tavros’ proprietary functional genomic discovery program and OpenBench’s screening platform

Partnership streamlines drug development for novel cancer therapies

DURHAM, N.C. and SAN FRANCISCO, April 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Tavros Therapeutics, Inc., a precision oncology platform company leading the new frontier of targeted therapies exploiting tumors’ genetic vulnerabilities, and OpenBench, Inc., a screening platform pioneering success-driven small molecule discovery partnerships, today announced the companies have entered into a collaboration agreement to discover small molecule modulators of up to five oncology targets across an initial 18-month term. The agreement expands the companies’ original collaboration to pursue a first-in-class cancer target, announced in December 2021.

“This deepening partnership with OpenBench underscores the strength of our drug discovery platform and is a key step toward building our internal pipeline of targeted cancer therapies,” said Tavros CEO and co-founder Eoin McDonnell, Ph.D. “Complementing our next-generation synthetic lethality platform with OpenBench’s success-driven AI chemistry approach brings additional innovation and speed to our work discovering and developing first-in-class cancer drugs. We are excited to continue collaborating with OpenBench to bring forward meaningful new targets with a clear and efficient clinical path for drug development.”

Under the terms of the agreement, OpenBench will receive an upfront payment for their services and payment upon the identification and experimental confirmation of novel small molecule chemotypes that meet Tavros’ potency and developability criteria. In exchange, Tavros gains exclusive access to OpenBench’s proprietary screening technology with respect to the promising cancer targets. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“We are thrilled to continue building upon the foundation of success established in our initial collaboration with Tavros,” said OpenBench CEO and co-founder Jim Thompson. “Combining our proprietary AI-enabled screening platform with Tavros’ innovation in identifying synthetic vulnerabilities represents a real opportunity to accelerate discovery of promising cancer targets for areas of high unmet medical need.”

About Tavros Therapeutics
Tavros Therapeutics is a precision oncology platform company leading the new frontier of targeted therapies exploiting tumors’ genetic vulnerabilities. Modular, scalable and fast, the company’s next-generation, bi-directional synthetic lethality platform can precisely and directly identify the paired genetic interactions that form the basis for breakthrough targets and first-in-class cancer drugs. Cutting-edge functional genomics and computational analysis accelerate the discovery of de-risked, druggable targets with the ultimate goal of improving patient outcomes, minimizing toxicity and quickening development in defined patient subsets. Strategic partnerships with Zentalis Pharmaceuticals, OpenBench and Vividion Therapeutics, a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG, have validated the platform and expanded the company’s clinical impact. Tavros is also leveraging its proprietary platform and map of useful synthetic lethal relationships to build a highly innovative pipeline of category-defining small-molecule drug candidates. Based in Durham, N.C., management is comprised of successful serial entrepreneurs with deep expertise in functional genomics, tumor genetics and drug discovery. To learn more, visit www.tavrostx.com.

About OpenBench
OpenBench is pioneering success-driven collaborations to bring rigor and efficiency to outsourced early discovery. In defiance of the prevailing fee-for-service paradigm, OpenBench bears the full cost of virtual screening, custom synthesis, and experimental confirmation, so that our partners only pay for hits and leads that are proven to be potent and developable. OpenBench’s proprietary structure-based machine learning platform uniquely enables the success-driven model and has succeeded in finding quality, progressible chemical material for every target it has taken on to-date. OpenBench is currently engaged in industry and academic partnerships across a range of therapeutic areas. To learn more, contact OpenBench at discovery@opnbnch.com or visit https://www.opnbnch.com to sign up for a consultation.

Media Contacts

For Tavros:
Heather Anderson
6 Degrees
+1 (919) 827-5539
handerson@6degreespr.com

For OpenBench:
OpenBench, Inc.
contact@opnbnch.com