Blueprint Medicines to Acquire Lengo Therapeutics

Blueprint Medicines will acquire San Diego-based Lengo Therapeutics, a privately held precision oncology company, for $250 million in cash plus up to $215 million in additional potential payments based on the achievement of certain regulatory approval and sales-based milestones.

Lengo Therapeutics is developing novel, small molecule precision therapeutics that target driver mutations in oncology. The company’s initial focus is on developing inhibitors of protein kinases with mutations known as EGFR exon 20 insertions which are associated with poor prognoses in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and other solid tumors. The acquisition includes Lengo Therapeutics’ lead compound LNG-451, a potential best-in-class oral precision therapy in development for the treatment of NSCLC. Lengo Therapeutics anticipates it will submit an investigational new drug (IND) application for LNG-451 to the FDA in December 2021.

“With a proven track record of developing and delivering precision therapies for patients with significant medical needs and a compelling lung cancer portfolio, Blueprint Medicines is unique in its abilities to quickly progress LNG-451,” said Enoch Kariuki, Chief Executive Officer of Lengo Therapeutics. “From our inception, the Lengo Therapeutics team has focused on generating best-in-class compound profiles, prioritizing those with brain penetration along with high potency and selectivity, like LNG-451…”

With the addition of LNG-451, Blueprint Medicines will have three investigational compounds, each with best-in-class potential, that cover the majority of all activating mutations in EGFR, the second most common oncogenic driver in NSCLC.  The acquisition also brings additional undisclosed preclinical precision oncology programs and research tools, including a catalog of covalent, highly brain penetrant kinase inhibitors that Blueprint Medicines plans to add to its proprietary compound library to further enable future drug discovery efforts. (Source: Blueprint Medicines Website, 29 November, 2021)