Business Wire

NERVIANO-MEDICAL

21.9.2022 15:09:59 CEST | Business Wire | Press release

Share
Nerviano Medical Sciences S.r.l. Announces Collaboration and Option to License Agreement with Merck

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

Business Wire
Business Wire
101 California Street, 20th Floor
CA 94111 San Francisco

http://businesswire.com
DK

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

Venture Global Launches First Advertising Campaign: “Unstoppable Energy”23.3.2026 11:30:00 CET | Press release

New ad campaign narrated by Academy Award winner Billy Bob Thornton will air nationally in the U.S. Today, Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE: VG) is launching its first national advertising campaign – “Unstoppable Energy”. The seven-figure, year-long campaign includes national and local broadcast television spots, as well as out-of-home, print, and digital ad placements. The company is proud to have Academy-Award winner Billy Bob Thornton as the campaign voiceover. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260323692879/en/ “Venture Global is excited to unveil our very first national advertising campaign, featuring the accomplished Billy Bob Thornton as its voice,” said Venture Global CEO Mike Sabel. “The Unstoppable Energy campaign portrays the roll-up-your-sleeves tenacity and innovation that drives our company every day. We are proud to introduce the ethos and story of the Venture Global brand across the U.S. as we grow into

Venture Global and Vitol Announce New LNG Purchase Agreement23.3.2026 11:00:00 CET | Press release

Today, Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE: VG) and Vitol announced the execution of a new, binding agreement for the purchase of approximately 1.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Venture Global for five years commencing in 2026, to be supplied from Venture Global’s portfolio. “Global demand for flexible, reliable U.S. LNG is rapidly growing, and Venture Global is proud to work with premier LNG trading companies like Vitol to provide this critical supply to the market,” said Venture Global CEO Mike Sabel. “Thanks to our innovative model, we have the ability to provide our customers with short, medium, and long-term LNG supply, and this agreement is another important step in diversifying the tenor of our LNG portfolio.” “Vitol is delighted to be working with Venture Global, a leading producer and supplier of LNG to world markets,” said Pablo Galante Escobar, Global Head of LNG at Vitol. “LNG is important to many economies worldwide. Through this transacti

RSA Launches ID Plus Sovereign Deployment: The Next Level of High Assurance Identity Security23.3.2026 11:00:00 CET | Press release

New “Deploy Anywhere” Solution Sets Industry Standard for Security, Availability, and Compliance Across Critical Sectors Today at RSAC Conference 2026, RSA, the security-first identity leader, announced the launch of RSA® ID Plus Sovereign Deployment, a groundbreaking evolution in high assurance identity solutions designed to meet the needs of organizations that must maintain constant availability, meet policy and data sovereignty laws, and defend themselves from advanced, persistent threats. RSA ID Plus Sovereign Deployment is the next evolution in RSA® ID Plus, the market’s most secure identity and access management (IAM) security platform featuring complete multi-factor authentication (MFA), SSO, and access capabilities. RSA ID Plus Sovereign Deployment features a new “deploy anywhere” capability that allows government agencies, financial services, critical infrastructure, and healthcare organizations to modernize their identity infrastructure while still maintaining the highest sta

Klarna Expands Its Partnership With H&M in Romania and Hungary23.3.2026 10:46:00 CET | Press release

Today Klarna announces that H&M customers can now choose flexible Klarna payment options at checkout. The expansion comes amid Klarna's rapid growth in Romania, where the global digital bank and flexible payments provider has surpassed 500,000 active users. Klarna, a global digital bank and provider of flexible payment solutions, and H&M, one of the world's largest fashion retailers, announce the expansion of their partnership in Romania and Hungary as a strategic step that strengthens the long-standing global collaboration between the two companies. Klarna is now available as a payment method for H&M customers in both markets, offering a smooth, more predictable checkout experience and payment options tailored to the different needs of shoppers. The integration of Klarna into H&M online stores is an important feature for customers, who will thus be able to access interest-free flexible payment options. More flexibility at checkout By integrating Klarna into the payment process, H&M cu

Recyclable Packaging and Responsible Water Management: Barilla’s Commitment to a More Sustainable Future23.3.2026 10:30:00 CET | Press release

99.8% of the packaging sold is designed to be recyclable.Over 50% of the materials used in Barilla Group’s packaging are recycled, and 71% are paper-based.+45% water recycled and reused in 2024 compared to 2022, and +164% in water-stressed areas. With 99.8% of the packaging designed to be recyclable and a 45% increase in water recycled and reused in 2024 compared to 2022, Barilla continues to strengthen its commitment to the responsible management of resources. The company is reaffirming this commitment on the occasion of Global Recycling Day (March 18) and World Water Day (March 22), two moments that highlight the importance of increasingly sustainable production models – from efficient water management to the design of more circular packaging solutions. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260320294356/en/ Barilla Group's Rubbiano Plant (PR) WATER AS A STRATEGIC RESOURCE TO PROTECT A fundamental resource for past

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
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye