Blueprint Adds Lengo's Precision Therapy to Lung Cancer Portfolio 

Lungs

Blueprint Medicines plunked down $250 million in cash to snap up privately-held Lengo Therapeutics to expand the company's pipeline for lung cancer treatments. The deal adds LNG-451, a highly selective brain-penetrant precision therapy targeting EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations, to its pipeline.

With the acquisition, Blueprint will be able to shepherd the Investigational New Drug Application for LNG-451, which has been planned for the end of 2021. Preclinical data for LNG-451 shows that the experimental asset has the potential to inhibit all common EGFR exon 20 insertion variants. Also, LNG-451 has shown marked selectivity over wild-type EGFR and off-target kinases. Additionally, LNG-451 has shown itself to be highly brain-penetrant and has demonstrated what the companies called "compelling activity in a preclinical intracranial disease model."

Jeff Albers, chief executive officer of Blueprint Medicines, said the acquisition of Lengo Therapeutics deepens the company's commitment to advancing precision oncology therapies. Specifically, the takeover of Lengo and LNG-451 expands Blueprint'sBlueprint's capabilities to transform the treatment of patients with EGFR-driven lung cancer.

"The Lengo team has done tremendous work in designing a highly selective therapeutic candidate tailored to the needs of patients with EGFR exon 20 lung cancer, including features with the potential to enable treatment or prevention of brain metastases. With our integrated precision therapy research, development and commercial capabilities, Blueprint Medicines is perfectly positioned to carry forward this compound into the clinic and deliver on our goal to meaningfully advance care for NSCLC patients with EGFR exon 20 insertion mutations," Albers said in a statement. 

In addition to LNG-451, Blueprint Medicines now has three investigational compounds, which cover the majority of all activating mutations in EGFR, the second most common oncogenic driver in non-small cell lung cancer. It is estimated that about 12% of activating EGFR mutations are exon 20 insertions. There is a significant need for therapies for patients who have these mutations, including new treatment options with improved tolerability, combinability, and enhanced brain penetration to treat or prevent brain metastases. Blueprint believes that its investigational compounds for these mutations have best-in-class potential. 

Lengo Therapeutics CEO Enoch Kariuki expressed excitement about the acquisition. He said Blueprint is in a unique position to advance the development of LNG-451 through the clinic.

"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. I am incredibly proud of the team for getting us to this point and excited to see the programs continue under Blueprint Medicines' leadership," Kariuki said in a statement.

A spinout of Frazier Healthcare Partners, Lengo launched last year, focusing on the discovery and development of novel treatments targeting driver mutations in oncology. The company emerged with $15 million and an exclusive license for a portfolio of novel chemistry from Jubilant Life Sciences. 

In addition to LNG-451, Blueprint also gains additional undisclosed preclinical precision oncology programs. That includes several covalent, highly brain penetrant kinase inhibitors that Blueprint intends to explore in the future.

Under terms of the deal, Blueprint acquired Lengo for $250 million in cash plus $215 million in future potential payments based on the performance of specific approval and sales-based milestones. Blueprint Medicines expects the deal to close in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Back to news