Ensemble Discovery has teamed up with Bristol-Myers Squibb on a new discovery program to develop new drugs aimed at "high-value" targets.
Ensemble gets $5 million upfront along with $7.5 million to support the research work. And there's an additional $29.5 million in potential milestones for each new drug they advance in the partnership.
Cambridge, MA-based Ensemble will put its drug discovery platform to work in the deal. And it will use its collection of synthetic chemical rings, or macrocycles, which it has dubbed Ensemblins, in the discovery process. BMS holds the marketing rights to the drugs that are developed.
"Consistent with our company's String of Pearls strategy to integrate external innovation and expand our capabilities, this collaboration gives us the opportunity to work in the chemical space between traditional small molecules and large biologics to identify compounds that modulate biological targets of therapeutic interest," said Carl P. Decicco, senior vice president of discovery chemistry at Bristol-Myers Squibb.
- read the press release
- check out the story in Mass High Tech