WATERTOWN, Mass.—In early January, Forma Therapeutics announced an exclusive alliance with Janssen Biotech Inc., one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical companies, in which the two companies will collaborate on the discovery, development and commercialization of novel small-molecule drug candidates that target tumor metabolism mechanisms.

 

Under the terms of the research collaboration and license option agreement, Forma will discover and develop drugs against a panel of tumor metabolism targets. Forma may receive project and milestone funding over several years of up to $700 million if development, regulatory and commercialization milestones are achieved for drug candidates successfully launched through the collaboration. In addition, Forma may be eligible for royalties on revenues from commercialized products as a result of this collaboration. Further, if certain milestones are achieved during the initial phase of the collaboration, Forma will have the opportunity to co-develop and maintain North American commercial rights to one program of Janssen’s selection. In addition, the parties can expand the collaboration to include additional targets, including areas beyond tumor metabolism.  

 

“This collaboration will enable a broad chemical biology approach to understanding the unique biology underlying cancer metabolism,” Dr. Kenneth Bair, senior vice president and head of research and development of Forma, said in a press release.