Revolution Medicines Reports New Application of Tri-Complex Modality for “Undruggable” Protein Targets and Announces License to Ginkgo Bioworks to Explore Potential Use Against Novel Coronavirus

Newly Discovered Natural Product and Designed Analogues Bind to Human Protein that is Exploited by the SARS-CoV-2 Virus

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. and BOSTON, June 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Revolution Medicines, Inc. (Nasdaq: RVMD), a clinical-stage oncology company focused on developing targeted therapies to inhibit frontier cancer targets, today announced the publication of an original scientific paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The report describes a natural compound (WDB002) and semi-synthetic analogues that potently bind and inhibit human centrosomal protein 250 (CEP250) by forming tri-complexes with an intracellular chaperone protein. This finding represents an example of high-affinity binding to protein domains known as “coiled coils” that are notoriously refractory to conventional drug discovery approaches, and highlights the potential for this binding modality to be useful in developing drugs against difficult disease targets. Additionally, CEP250 was described by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco as an interaction partner of the Nsp13 protein of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing the global COVID-19 pandemic. This raises the possibility that CEP250 may be a relevant disease target against COVID-19 and that WDB002 may be a useful starting point for new antiviral drug candidates.

Revolution Medicines has licensed intellectual property to Ginkgo Bioworks, the organism company, to develop WDB002 and its related compounds as possible therapeutics to treat infectious disease. Last year, Ginkgo Bioworks acquired Revolution Medicines’ genome mining platform, a technology that enables the discovery and development of novel natural product therapeutics. Ginkgo is expanding research into WDB002 and related compounds for possible applications against COVID-19.

“While Revolution Medicines remains focused on our mission of developing targeted oncology therapies using advanced approaches such as tri-complex inhibitors against frontier cancer targets, we also recognize the potential relevance of these latest research findings to the ongoing battle against COVID-19. We acted swiftly to get this intellectual property into the hands of the Ginkgo Bioworks team, which has shown a commitment to applying its broad expertise in synthetic biology to infectious disease research and development,” said Mark A. Goldsmith, M.D., Ph.D., chief executive officer and chairman of Revolution Medicines. “We believe this cooperative approach will facilitate effective partnerships with the broader scientific community to speed discoveries that may be impactful in this public health crisis and beyond.”