Tavros Therapeutics Achieves Two Milestone Payments in its Collaboration with Vividion Therapeutics

Agreement includes the discovery and enhancement of targeted oncology drug targets and biomarkers, in addition to positioning existing compounds

DURHAM, N.C., May 14, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Tavros Therapeutics, Inc., a precision oncology platform company, today announced that the Company has achieved two milestone payments in its collaboration with Vividion Therapeutics, Inc., a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG. The payments were triggered by the successful achievement of predefined milestones, underscoring the progress of their strategic collaboration to discover and develop targeted oncology therapies.

Eoin McDonnell, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Tavros, remarked, “These milestones signify crucial advancements in our collaboration with Vividion. They highlight the strength of our precision oncology platform, EVOLVE™, and Vividion’s commitment to exploring innovative treatment options across various tumor types to maximize patient benefit.”

Under the terms of the five-year agreement, which began in October 2022, Tavros received $17.5 million in a cash upfront payment from Vividion and is eligible to receive up to $430.5 million based on the achievement of prespecified preclinical, clinical development, and commercial milestones, as well as low-single-digit royalties on sales of certain potential programs. Vividion has options to pursue up to five additional targets with up to $482 million in additional potential payments and royalties.

“The collaboration between Vividion and Tavros has the potential to deliver novel precision therapeutics capable of addressing cancer-causing proteins that have eluded traditional small molecule drugs. Our progress demonstrates the power of combining Vividion’s chemoproteomics approach to targeting classically undruggable proteins with Tavros’ ability to harness synthetic lethality to uncover druggable vulnerabilities in deadly tumor cells,” said Aleksandra Rizo, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Vividion.

About Tavros Therapeutics, Inc.

Tavros Therapeutics is a precision oncology platform company that leverages next-generation functional and computational genomics technology to uncover unique vulnerabilities within tumors to discover novel targets and biomarkers in areas of high unmet clinical need. 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 accelerates the discovery of de-risked, druggable targets to improve patient outcomes, minimizing toxicity, and quickening development in defined patient subsets. Strategic partnerships with Zentalis Pharmaceuticals, OpenBench, Inc., 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 Vividion Therapeutics, Inc.

Vividion Therapeutics, Inc., a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG acquired in August 2021, is a biopharmaceutical company utilizing novel discovery technologies to unlock high value, traditionally undruggable targets with 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.

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