Parabilis is advancing its pipeline of clinical and pre-clinical Helicon™ programs focused on compelling yet previously intractable biological targets
Company’s lead program, FOG-001, is in Phase 1/2 for patients with solid tumors, and is the first and only direct inhibitor of β-catenin:TCF interaction
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Parabilis Medicines™ (formerly FogPharma), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to creating extraordinary medicines for people living with cancer, today announced a corporate name change. The company’s new name, Parabilis (pronounced puh-RAH-buh-liss), draws on Greek and Latin etymologies to mean both ‘beyond what’s possible’ and ‘obtainable,’ reflecting the company’s drive to expand what is therapeutically possible for the treatment of serious diseases, and its commitment to ensuring its medicines reach and benefit patients globally.
Parabilis also unveiled its expanded Helicon™ platform, which seamlessly integrates highly innovative AI and experimental technologies to discover, optimize, and deliver Helicon peptide therapeutics for not-yet-drugged targets, in addition to cutting-edge data science techniques the company is employing to optimize trial design and guide future clinical strategies.
“The name Parabilis captures the tremendous aspirations of a group of passionate innovators who are grounded in pragmatism. We are combining breakthrough science, industry-leading artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, and a relentless drive to create real medicines that change what is possible in treating disease,” said Mathai Mammen, M.D., Ph.D., Chairman and CEO of Parabilis Medicines. “That clarity of ambition is reflected in the way we approach our work, integrating data science and new product planning throughout the drug discovery and development lifecycle to ensure we’re single-mindedly pursuing only those medicines that anticipate and address profound unmet needs. Our new company name embodies this spirit: break boundaries, crush dogma, operate with the highest ambitions, and focus relentlessly on the patient at all times.”
Parabilis’s investigational lead candidate, FOG-001, is the only clinical-stage inhibitor of the interaction of β-catenin with TCF, a known driver of colorectal cancer (CRC) with a significant role in multiple additional cancers. This target has been a towering challenge in the pharmaceutical industry, known for decades to be a key node, yet intractable. Now 16 months into its development, FOG-001 continues to enroll mostly CRC patients in its Phase 1 precision guided program. The company is also advancing its discovery portfolio with applications in protein degraders and radioligand therapies for the treatment of cancer, with four late discovery programs and integration of AI and advanced data science into every aspect of the discovery and development process.
In early 2024, the company raised a $145 million Series E financing to support the ongoing clinical development of FOG-001 and accelerate its broader Helicon peptide portfolio and platform.
About Parabilis Medicines (Formerly FogPharma)
Parabilis Medicines™ is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to creating extraordinary medicines for people living with cancer. Through its pioneering Helicon™ discovery platform, Parabilis is engineering precisely-tuned, stabilized helical peptide therapeutics that have the potential to unlock a large number of traditionally undruggable targets. FOG-001, the company’s first-in-class TCF-blocking β-catenin inhibitor and lead clinical program, is being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 study for patients with colorectal cancer and other solid tumors and is proof of the applicability of the platform to address undruggable intracellular protein-protein targets. The company is additionally advancing a pipeline of other first-in-class programs that target proteins known to be relevant to numerous cancers, but considered intractable with traditional drug modalities. The versatility of the Helicon approach allows for the discovery of multiple targeting mechanisms, including functional protein-protein interaction inhibitors, bifunctional degraders, and radioligand therapeutics. Parabilis is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., and is well-capitalized, with more than $500 million raised to date from leading life sciences investors. For more information, please visit: www.parabilismed.com
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