NEW YORK – MOMA Therapeutics on Wednesday said it added the next-generation PARP1 inhibitor MOMA-989 to its pipeline of drug candidates and anticipates filing an investigational new drug application by year-end seeking permission to begin testing it in patients with tumors displaying DNA damage response mutations.
MOMA, which stands for "molecular machines," launched in 2020 to develop cancer therapies that target proteins involved in cellular housekeeping. Under an in-licensing agreement with a US-based pharmaceutical company, MOMA is now assuming responsibility for the research, development, and global commercialization of MOMA-989 and related molecules. MOMA did not disclose the drugmaker it licensed MOMA-989 from or detail the financial terms of their agreement.
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based MOMA plans to develop the PARP1 inhibitor as a treatment for patients with homologous recombination-deficient (HRD) tumors alone and in combination with its Polθ inhibitor MOMA-313. In preclinical studies, combining a PARP inhibitor with a Polθ inhibitor in HRD tumors has shown potential for deep and durable therapeutic responses. MOMA anticipates reporting early single-agent efficacy data in the second half of 2026.
MOMA is conducting a Phase Ia study to evaluate the safety and preliminary anti-tumor activity of MOMA-313 as a monotherapy and in combination with AstraZeneca's PARP inhibitor Lynparza (olaparib) in patients with HRD solid tumors. In the trial, investigators are evaluating ascending doses of MOMA-313 with and without Lynparza in about 158 patients to determine optimal dosing. To be eligible for the trial, patients must have advanced or metastatic solid tumors harboring select gene mutations known to cause HRD, and they cannot be eligible for curative therapy. The researchers are also measuring patients' objective response rate, duration of response, progression-free survival, and overall survival in the trial. MOMA expects an initial efficacy readout from the Lynparza combination in late 2026, and a trial of MOMA-313 with MOMA-989 is expected to begin in late 2026.
The firm is additionally developing the Werner helicase inhibitor MOMA-341 as a treatment for cancers with high microsatellite instability, with an investigational new drug application filing planned for the first quarter of 2025 and an initial readout of early single-agent efficacy in mid-2026.
"The addition of this selective PARP1 inhibitor to our portfolio solidifies our lead asset focus on the DNA damage response," MOMA CEO Asit Parikh said in a statement. "Our conviction in the potential for achieving practice-changing efficacy by combining MOMA-989 with our Polθ inhibitor catalyzed the licensing deal. It puts MOMA in position to generate multiple impactful clinical datasets across three thematically linked assets over the next two years."