▎Editor of WuXi AppTec content team

Nerviano Medical Sciences (NMS) recently announced a collaboration and licensing agreement
with Merck & Co.
(MSD) to develop the drug under research NMS-293.

According to the press release, NMS-293 is a highly selective, brain-barrier-traversing next-generation PARP1 inhibitor
.

Polyadenosine diphosphate ribose polymerase (PARP) plays a key role
in the DNA repair mechanism in cells.

PARP inhibitors have also been clinically proven to be effective in treating breast, ovarian, prostate and pancreatic cancers with BRCA mutant proteins that lack DNA homologous recombination repair mechanisms
.

NMS-293 is an oral PARP1 inhibitor
.

NMS-293 is more selective for PARP1 than first-generation PARP inhibitors and has the property of penetrating the
blood-brain barrier.

Not only does this drug have the potential to be used as a monotherapy, but it may be possible to combine treatment of many different oncological cancers in combination with other drugs that cause DNA damage accumulation
.

According to the company, the more selective properties of this drug for PARP1 than for PARP2 may increase the tolerance of
this drug in patients.

▲NMS R&D pipeline (Source: NMS official website)

NMS-293 is currently in early clinical development to examine its efficacy
as a monotherapy for BRCA-mutant tumors and in combination with temozolomide (TMZ) for recurrent glioblastoma (GBM).

Glioblastoma is the most common malignant brain tumor and one of
the most fatal cancers.

According to statistics, only 1 in 20 patients can live past 5 years, so patients with recurrent glioblastoma have a high degree of medical unfinished demand
.

Under existing agreements, Merck would pay up to $65 million upfront to
NMS.

Based on development, regulatory and commercialization milestones and net sales, NMS will receive additional payments
.

The two companies collaborate on the clinical development of NMS-293, and NMS designs, initiates, executes and funds global clinical trials
of drugs.

"Based on the unique nature of NMS-293, this drug has the potential to combine with a variety of DNA destruction accumulation drugs such as chemotherapy, DNA repair inhibitors or antibody conjugated drugs (ADCs), which is impossible to achieve with existing PARP inhibitors in the treatment of brain tumors," said Mr.
Hugues Dolgos, CEO of Nerviano Medical Sciences and NMS Group.
NMS has established a unique proprietary platform that has the potential to develop and expand potential 'first-in-class' and 'best-in-class' targeted drugs, such as PAPP-targeted NMS-293
.

We believe that Merck is the ideal partner
to maximize the value of our projects.

”

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