NERVIANO-MEDICAL
Nerviano Medical Sciences S.r.l. (NMS), a member of the NMS Group and a clinical stage company discovering and developing innovative therapies for the treatment of cancer, announced today the signing of a collaboration agreement with licensing option with Merck Healthcare KGaA (Merck), for the next-generation highly selective and brain penetrant PARP1 inhibitor NMS-293.
PARP (poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase) is key in the repair of DNA damage and PARP inhibitors have been shown to be highly efficacious in the treatment of tumors deficient in homologous recombination repair, such as breast, ovarian, prostate and pancreatic cancers which are BRCA mutated.
NMS-293 is an orally available PARP1 inhibitor, designed to be more PARP1 selective and brain penetrant compared to first generation PARP inhibitors. With its expected lower hematological side effect profile, it has the expected features for potential use not only as single agent but also in combination with DNA-damage accumulating agents in a wide range of tumors. NMS-293 is currently in early clinical development for the treatment of patients with BRCA mutated tumors as single agent and with recurrent Glioblastoma (GBM), a brain tumor with very high medical need, in combination with temozolomide (TMZ).
Under the current agreement, Merck will make early payments (up-front and option exercise fees) of up to US$65 million to NMS. Furthermore, NMS will receive payments for the achievement of certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones and tiered royalties on net sales by Merck. Upon exercise of the option, NMS will grant to Merck the exclusive rights to research, develop, manufacture, and commercialize NMS-293.
“NMS-293 is the first next-generation PARP1 inhibitor to enter clinical trials. Based on its unique features, NMS-293 has strong potential in combination with a wide variety of DNA-damage accumulating agents, such as chemotherapy, DNA repair inhibitors or ADCs, in tumor settings that are precluded to current PARP inhibitors, such as brain tumors, and where there is an urgent global need to find treatments,” stated Hugues Dolgos, Pharm.D., chief executive officer of NMS and NMS Group. “NMS has built a unique and proprietary platform of first-in-class and best-in-class assets and expanded to new target classes like PARP with NMS-293 as our flagship. We believe that Merck, a global leader in DNA repair with a well-established commercialization footprint, is the ideal partner to maximize the value of our program.”
Building on the therapeutic impact that PARP inhibitors have had over the last several years, we believe this new PARP1 program, if successful, could fill a significant unmet need for patients unresponsive to existing PARP inhibitors with an improved hematological adverse event profile,” said Victoria Zazulina, M.D., Head of Development Unit Oncology for the Healthcare business of Merck. “The work of NMS to discover and advance this next generation PARP1 selective inhibitor coupled with our deep expertise in developing therapies which modify DNA damage response mechanisms, creates a strong foundation to further develop this investigational therapy for patients.”
During the option period, NMS and Merck will collaborate on the clinical development of NMS-293 as monotherapy and in combination, with NMS designing, sponsoring, conducting, and funding global clinical trials.
About NMS-293
NMS-293 is an orally available small molecule inhibitor of PARP1 and is currently in early clinical development for the treatment of patients with BRCA mutated tumors as single agent and with recurrent Glioblastoma (GBM), a brain tumor with very high medical need, in combination with temozolomide (TMZ).
About Nerviano Medical Sciences
Nerviano Medical Sciences S.r.l. (NMS Srl) is focused on discovery and clinical development of small-molecule new chemical entities (NCEs) for oncology. We take innovative approaches on novel mechanisms of action and drug targets to bring first- and best-in-class personalized medicines to cancer patients. Our current pipeline consists of NCEs originating from our well validated kinase platform that span from early preclinical to clinical stage projects and which are being developed both in-house and with partners.
NMS Srl combines the flexibility of a biotech with the quality of a big pharma. Our experienced management team leads a highly skilled staff of professionals with global vision and a broad range of expertise in research, drug discovery and clinical development. We cover the whole range of additional aspects of drug development through the NMS Group affiliate companies, Accelera (AdMet) and NerPharMa (manufacturing).
A key strength is our industrially renowned kinase inhibitor drug discovery platform which comprises an ever-evolving chemical collection with broad intellectual property coverage, discovery know-how and technologies which enabled us to out-license IP rights on recently approved innovative medicines such as encorafenib and entrectinib.
We collaborate with academia and clinical investigators as well as with industrial partners worldwide to advance our programs from early discovery to clinical development of new drugs. We seek further strategic collaborations to develop and commercialize our products in different territories as well as in-licensing opportunities of promising assets for clinical development.
About NMS Group
NMS Group is the largest oncological R&D company in Italy. More than half of our 400 employees are highly educated individuals dedicated to innovative research, development and manufacturing. The NMS kinase inhibitor discovery platform as well as the antibody-conjugating payload platform are the driving forces of the group's innovation, securing global recognition of NMS in personalized therapy. Recently entrectinib, originally discovered by NMS, is a targeted kinase inhibitor to treat NTRK1/2/3 and ROS1 dependent solid tumors that was licensed to Ignyta, now a member of the Roche Group, gained approvals for commercialization in all major markets. This is further evident of the competitiveness of the drug discovery platform of NMS Group.
NMS Group has three subsidiaries. NMS S.r.l. is a FIC / BIC focused drug research and development company with a robust pipeline of more than a dozen anti-cancer projects, and three of the projects are currently in early clinical development. The other two subsidiaries are Accelera, which is a preclinical CRO company, and NerPharMa which manufactures API and drug products supporting clinical developments and commercialization.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220921005071/en/
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Saudi Arabia to Host World Economic Forum Global Collaboration and Growth Meeting: Building Common Ground and Reviving Growth on 22-23 April 202623.1.2026 16:29:00 CET | Press release
Saudi Arabia will host the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Collaboration and Growth Meeting: Building Common Ground and Reviving Growth in Jeddah on 22-23 April 2026, it was announced on the closing day of the 56th Annual Meeting of the Forum in Davos, Switzerland. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260123725881/en/ HE Faisal F. Alibrahim, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Economy and Planning, announces that the Kingdom will host the World Economic Forum Global Collaboration and Growth Meeting in Jeddah in April 2026 (Photo: AETOSWire) His Excellency Faisal F. Alibrahim, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Economy and Planning today confirmed the details for the regular high-level WEF meeting, which was announced at the 2025 WEF Annual Meeting. Calling for pragmatism and collaboration against a backdrop of geopolitical fragmentation, HE Alibrahim said “stability can’t be quickly built, and it can’t be bought”. “Stability need
Philip Morris International Urges FDA Advisory Committee to Recommend Authorizing ZYN as a Modified Risk Tobacco Product23.1.2026 15:15:00 CET | Press release
In January 2025, ZYN became the first nicotine pouch product authorized for marketing by the FDA Experts from Philip Morris International (PMI) (NYSE: PM) yesterday presented scientific evidence to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (TPSAC) as part of the FDA’s process for a Modified Risk Tobacco Product (MRTP) designation for their ZYN nicotine pouch products. This designation would allow PMI’s U.S. family of businesses to communicate to U.S. legal-aged, 21+ adult cigarette smokers that switching completely to ZYN reduces their risk of many smoking-related diseases and we look forward to a decision by FDA. "The FDA’s Center for Tobacco Product’s (CTP) mission is to make smoking-related disease and death a part of America’s past,” said Keagan Lenihan, Chief External Affairs Officer for PMI U.S. “Smoke-free products, like ZYN, play a critical role in helping CTP achieve this mission and provide adults who smoke with important inf
Business4Land Champions’ Council Launched at Davos to Spur Private Sector Action on Land and Drought23.1.2026 14:58:00 CET | Press release
The UNCCD COP16 Presidency, led by Saudi Arabia, and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Secretariat launched the Business4Land (B4L) Champions’ Council at the World Economic Forum in Davos to mobilize global CEOs and industry leaders in support of large-scale land restoration. The B4L Champions Council members include ten companies: Nexira, Suzano, Gut & Bösel, Patagonia Provisions/ B.Cameron Consulting, Olam Group, Reservas Votorantim, Genesis Soil Health, EY, Envision Energy, and LVMH The move marks the beginning of a more structured and strategic engagement with the private sector ahead of COP17. TheUnited Nations Convention to Combat Desertification(UNCCD) Secretariat and the UNCCD COP16 Presidency, led by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, today announced the official launch of the Business4Land (B4L) Champions’ Council at a high-level event hosted at InTent during the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos. This press release features multimedia
WEF26: Saudi Arabia Becoming ‘A Connector Economy’ as World Trade Evolves23.1.2026 14:47:00 CET | Press release
His Excellency Majid A. Alkassabi, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Commerce, today at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos said the Kingdom stands to benefit from ongoing shifts in global supply chains. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260123425621/en/ Amid shifting global trade dynamics, Saudi Arabia underscores its role as a stable connector economy linking markets across regions (Photo: AETOSWire) Speaking in a session titled ‘Many Shapes of Trade’, HE commented: “Trade today is definitely shifting from fair trade to a managed and rule-driven trade model. For us in Saudi Arabia, we have a strategic location, we have a lot of resources, we could become a bridge economy. We could become a connector economy where we can connect with Africa, with Europe, with Asia, becoming a logistic hub.” His Excellency Ahmed A. Alkhateeb, Minister of Tourism, in a session called ‘The New Geography of Travel: Elevating
Andersen Consulting styrker sit udbud inden for digital transformation med Silver Creek23.1.2026 14:25:00 CET | Pressemeddelelse
Andersen Consulting annoncerer en samarbejdsaftale med Silver Creek, en førende virksomhed inden for datastrategi, analyse, applikationsudvikling og ai-drevne automatiseringstjenester. Silver Creek Software er en førende teknologivirksomhed, der er baseret i Alberta, Canada, med ekspertise i at transformere organisationer gennem data- og forretningsløsninger. Firmaet blev etableret i 1998 og tilbyder komplette konsulentydelser med speciale i data og analyse, applikationsudvikling, maskinlæring og ai. Med et team af erfarne og certificerede fagfolk leverer virksomheden skræddersyede løsninger på tværs af flere brancher, herunder den offentlige sektor, finansielle tjenester, naturressourcer og transport. Kernen i Silver Creeks arbejde er at skabe værdi ud fra kundens data gennem digitalisering, integration og automatisering. "Vi har opbygget vores omdømme på at hjælpe organisationer med at omdanne komplekse dataøkosystemer til strategiske aktiver," udtaler Ben Steem, administrerende dire
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom