Finch Therapeutics & Takeda Expand Collaboration to Develop Microbiome Therapeutics Using Finch’s Human-First Discovery® Platform

Finch & Takeda to target Crohn’s disease under expanded collaboration

SOMERVILLE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Finch Therapeutics Group, Inc. (“Finch”) and Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (“Takeda”; TSE:4502/NYSE:TAK) announced today the expansion of their collaboration to develop microbiome-based therapeutics using Finch’s Human-First Discovery® platform. Under the terms of the expanded agreement, Finch and Takeda will utilize Finch’s platform to target Crohn’s disease, a form of inflammatory bowel disease.

Finch’s Human-First Discovery platform enables the development of Full-Spectrum Microbiota® (FSM®) therapies that contain a diverse community of microbiota from human donors, as well as Rationally-Selected Microbiota® (RSM®) therapies that contain select bacterial strains, grown in pure culture, that have been linked to favorable clinical outcomes in human microbiota transplantation studies. In collaboration with Takeda, Finch’s first RSM product, FIN-524, is advancing through pre-clinical development for the treatment of ulcerative colitis.

“We are pleased to expand our collaboration with Takeda,” said Mark Smith, PhD, CEO of Finch. “We’ve had a very fruitful collaboration with Takeda on the development of FIN-524, and we look forward to utilizing the knowledge we’ve built together to pursue the development of new therapeutic options for an even wider group of patients battling IBD.”

“We’ve seen the promise of Finch’s Human-First Discovery platform for the development of a completely new type of treatment for inflammatory bowel disease,” said Gareth Hicks, PhD, Vice President & Head of Gastroenterology Drug Discovery Unit at Takeda. “Through our work with Finch to understand the therapeutic potential of the microbiome, we hope to develop new treatment options that make a meaningful difference for individuals living with IBD.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Takeda will receive exclusive worldwide rights to commercialize an RSM product developed for Crohn’s disease. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

About Finch Therapeutics

Finch Therapeutics Group, Inc. (Finch) is developing novel microbiome-based therapeutics to serve patients with serious unmet medical needs. Built on 30 years of translational research at OpenBiome, MIT, University of Minnesota and the Center for Digestive Diseases, Finch uses Human-First Discovery® to develop therapies from microbes that have demonstrated clinically significant impacts on patient outcomes. Finch is unique in having both a donor-derived Full-Spectrum Microbiota® (FSM®) product platform and a Rationally-Selected Microbiota® (RSM®) product platform based on microbes grown in pure culture. Finch’s lead program, CP101, is an investigational FSM product with Breakthrough Therapy designation from the FDA for prevention of recurrent C. difficile infection. Finch also has FastTrack designation from the FDA for a program to develop an FSM therapy for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Finch’s RSM platform employs machine-learning to mine Finch’s unique clinical datasets, reverse engineering successful clinical experience to identify the key microbes driving patient outcomes. Finch has a strategic partnership with Takeda to develop FIN-524, an investigational RSM product for ulcerative colitis.

Finch is using a rich foundation of clinical data to advance its pipeline, leveraging proof-of-principle results to evaluate target indications and inform the design of this new therapeutic class.

CP101 is not approved in any country. The FDA’s Breakthrough Therapy designation does not constitute or guarantee future approval or alter the standards for approval.

Full-Spectrum Microbiota, FSM, Rationally-Selected Microbiota, RSM, and Human-First Discovery are trademarks of Finch Therapeutics Group, Inc.

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