Pharmaceutical Business review

Forma, Boehringer enter oncology drugs development alliance

Both the companies intend to lay emphasis on discovering small molecule drugs against oncology-relevant protein-protein interactions.

As per the deal, Forma will receive a total of $65m in up-front payments and research funding to screen for and optimize compounds against multiple oncology targets over the upcoming four years.

Furthermore, Forma may be entitled to receive up to $750m in pre-commercial milestones for programs resulting from the collaboration.

Forma Research and Development head and senior vice president Kenneth Bair said many un-druggable and/or novel targets in oncology involve protein-protein interactions.

"We are really excited about tackling these essential targets with Boehringer Ingelheim," Bair added.