Gain Therapeutics Announces Multi-Target Drug Discovery Collaboration Agreement with Zentalis Pharmaceuticals

Gain Therapeutics, Inc. today announced a multi-target collaboration agreement with Zentalis Pharmaceuticals to discover new product candidates for the treatment of cancer. Gain will use its proprietary SEE-Tx computational platform technology to identify new sites on target proteins for potential use in oncology. SEE-Tx applies a proprietary computational algorithm and supercomputer processing to the published 3D structure of proteins to discover new binding sites with the ability to modulate protein function. The intended output is newly-discovered targets or target protein interactions that can then be drugged for therapeutic benefit to intervene on protein misfolding.

“We are pleased to enter into a relationship with Zentalis, an oncology company at the forefront of developing differentiated treatments for patients,” said Eric Richman, Chief Executive Officer at Gain. “Our unique algorithm, based on a patented method to analyze molecular dynamics and powered by supercomputers, is designed to enable discovery of novel targets in various therapeutic areas. Zentalis’ team brings extensive industry experience and a proven track record in the discovery and clinical development of innovative cancer therapies, which will be beneficial as we work to further validate SEE-Tx for use in combating cancers and other devastating diseases. Together, we are looking forward to changing the way the industry thinks about drug discovery in oncology.”

Prof. Xavier Barril, Chief Scientific Officer of Gain, added, “Over the past several decades, the evidence linking protein misfolding and cancer has continued to grow, with chaperones that mediate protein folding being identified as critical modulators of proper cellular function. Of particular note, while most proteins have a half-life of one to two hours, many oncogenes have half-lives of just a few minutes, meaning that they are continually being synthesized, folded and degraded, offering significant opportunities for misfolding. We are excited to collaborate with Zentalis with its promising pipeline of oncology therapeutic candidates. Zentalis sees the potential of our SEE-Tx platform technology to address this challenge in cancer.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Gain will pursue binding site identification on target proteins that will be selected and agreed upon by both parties. Next, Gain will identify and determine the potential suitability of these sites as drug targets, as well as their prospective therapeutic use. Selected compounds will be tested in the lab by Zentalis against the target protein to confirm binding and action to identify and characterize novel compounds for development.