BMS in $1 billion-plus cancer deal with Volastra

Volastra Therapeutics, a US biotech firm focused on exploiting chromosomal instability (CIN) as a vulnerability for cancer cells, has signed a collaboration with US pharm major Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) to discover, develop and commercialize new medicines.

The multi-year collaboration will leverage Volastra’s proprietary CINtech platform, to identify CIN-related, synthetic lethal targets as drug candidates. Synthetic lethality is a well-established genetic approach of target discovery that involves exploiting vulnerabilities in tumor cells to induce tumor cell death while sparing normal cells. In pre-clinical models, Volastra has demonstrated that synthetical lethal approaches can be particularly effective in tumors with high levels of CIN.

“The combination of Bristol Myers Squibb’s expertise in oncology and Volastra’s deep understanding of chromosomal instability as cancer’s Achilles heel makes for an ideal partnership to advance novel therapies for patients,” said Dr Charles Hugh-Jones, chief executive at Volastra. “Through this collaboration, Volastra will apply our innovative platform towards the creation of effective CIN-targeted medicines. We look forward to working together with Bristol Myers Squibb to transform cancer treatment,” he noted.