Flagship Pioneering and Quotient Therapeutics Announce Agreement to Identify Potential Novel Targets for the Treatment of Cardiovascular and Renal Diseases under Strategic Partnership with Pfizer

PRNewswire 28-Aug-2024 6:30 AM

Collaboration leverages Quotient's platform to identify somatic mutations in genes that modify the progression of cardiovascular and renal diseases

Quotient and Pioneering Medicines, Flagship's in-house drug development unit, will jointly conduct research activities

Agreement initiated under strategic partnership between Flagship Pioneering and Pfizer

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 28, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Flagship Pioneering today demonstrated further acceleration in its strategic partnership with Pfizer Inc, announcing two research programs with Flagship-founded Quotient Therapeutics. Under the collaboration, the companies will analyze somatic mutations that occur in diseased patient tissue to inform the discovery and development of potentially transformative therapies for cardiovascular and renal diseases.

Pioneering Medicines, Flagship's in house drug discovery and development unit, is responsible for leading the strategic partnership with Pfizer, including driving the exploration process to rapidly surface potential drug development programs built on Flagship's diverse bioplatforms and modalities. The Quotient agreement is the most recent program initiated under Flagship's strategic partnership with Pfizer announced in July 2023.

"Quotient's Somatic Genomics platform explores the extensive genetic diversity within the 30 trillion cells inside our body. This offers an incredibly rich and unchartered territory for drug discovery," said Jacob Rubens, Co-Founder and CEO of Quotient Therapeutics and Origination Partner at Flagship Pioneering. "These two research programs will deploy our unique platform capabilities to identify novel links between genes and cardiovascular or renal disease, which are leading causes of mortality and morbidity around the world."

"Our strategic alliance with Pfizer was driven by a shared ambition – to develop novel medicines for patients sooner," said Paul Biondi, Flagship Pioneering General Partner and President of Pioneering Medicines. "This exploration with Quotient not only represents another exciting milestone for the partnership, but also speaks to the transformative potential of partnership to accelerate therapeutic innovation."

"This strategic collaboration with Flagship provides an opportunity to explore early discovery work with Quotient's proprietary platform to potentially unlock new targets for cardiovascular and renal disease," said Bill Sessa, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of the Internal Medicine Research Unit at Pfizer. "With our deep cardiometabolic heritage, we will continue to push the boundaries of research innovation to help address significant gaps in care that remain for these patients."

About Flagship Pioneering and Pioneering Medicines

Flagship Pioneering invents and builds bioplatform companies, each with the potential for multiple products that transform human health or sustainability. Since its launch in 2000, Flagship has originated and fostered more than 100 scientific ventures, resulting in more than $75 billion in aggregate value. To date, Flagship has deployed over $3.8 billion in capital toward the founding and growth of its pioneering companies alongside more than $27 billion of follow-on investments from other institutions. The current Flagship ecosystem comprises 40 companies, including Foghorn Therapeutics (NASDAQ:FHTX), Moderna (NASDAQ:MRNA), Sana Biotechnology (NASDAQ:SANA), Generate Biomedicines, Inari, Indigo Agriculture, and Tessera Therapeutics.

Pioneering Medicines, Flagship Pioneering's in house drug development unit, is dedicated to conceiving and developing a broad portfolio of life-changing treatments for patients built from Flagship's innovative platforms. Harnessing the drug development expertise of its team together with the power of Flagship's multiple scientific platforms, Pioneering Medicines explores and identifies new product concepts which are then advanced jointly with Flagship's bioplatform companies. Pioneering Medicines also partners with external collaborators to apply its unique approach to partners' R&D priorities. These Innovation Supply Chain Partnerships are highly co-creative strategic alliances that accelerate therapeutic innovation by bringing together partners spanning the full spectrum of drug discovery, development, and production. Pioneering Medicines' current partners include Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

About Quotient Therapeutics

Quotient Therapeutics is the first company to systematically study the genetic variation and evolution of the trillions of cells inside the human body. The company's Somatic Genomics platform reveals novel links between genes and disease across a broad range of therapeutic areas, enabling the discovery of transformative medicines intended to cure, prevent, or reverse disease. Founded by Flagship Pioneering in 2022, Quotient is backed by experts in the field of somatic genetics.

Media Contacts:

For Quotient - Kristin Politi, Ph.D.
LifeSci Communications
kpoliti@lifescicomms.com

For Flagship – Olivia Offner
Flagship Pioneering
ooffner@flagshippioneering.com

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SOURCE Flagship Pioneering