NEW YORK – Ideaya Biosciences said on Monday that GlaxoSmithKline will not exercise its option to obtain an exclusive license to Ideaya's MAT2A inhibitor, IDE397, but the company will continue to develop the drug on its own.
Ideaya and GSK entered into an agreement in June 2020 for three synthetic lethality programs, including the MAT2A program, along with programs targeting Pol Theta and Werner Helicase. GSK paid Ideaya $120 million upfront for potential rights to these drugs. If GSK had optioned the MAT2A program, Ideaya would have received an additional $50 million.
Ideaya is studying IDE397 in a Phase I trial in patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors with MTAP deletions. The firm was also exploring the drug's activity in combination with GlaxoSmithKline's PRMT inhibitor GSK3368715 in preclinical studies.
Ideaya said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it will continue development of IDE397 in patients with solid tumors harboring an MTAP deletion. The company is expanding its solid tumors study to explore its activity in MTAP-deleted non-small cell lung cancer and esophagogastric cancer patients. Ideaya is also evaluating both monotherapy and combination regimens of IDE397, including combinations with chemotherapy and Amgen's PRMT5 inhibitor AMG 193.
GSK's decision on IDE397 doesn't impact the firms' ongoing collaboration on the Pol Theta and Werner Helicase programs. In June, Ideaya selected a lead candidate from its Pol Theta program. The companies expected to begin clinical studies of the candidate in the first half of 2023. The Werner Helicase program remains in preclinical studies.