Pharma BD Deal Intelligence
Eli Lilly (via Loxo Oncology at Lilly) and Foghorn Therapeutics entered a strategic oncology collaboration announced December 13, 2021 (agreement signed December 10, 2021), built on Foghorn's Gene Traffic Control chromatin-regulator platform. Foghorn received $300M cash upfront plus an $80M equity investment ($380M total) and is eligible for up to $1.3B in milestones plus tiered royalties. The pact is structured as a U.S. 50/50 co-development and co-commercialization agreement on Foghorn's selective SMARCA2 (BRM) oncology program and an additional undisclosed oncology target, plus three discovery programs. The collaboration cleared HSR review and became effective in January 2022, when Foghorn received the upfront. The original anchor clinical asset, FHD-286 (a SMARCA2/SMARCA4 dual inhibitor), was paused in AML in January 2022 over a differentiation-syndrome signal and, after the Phase 1 decitabine-combination readout missed Foghorn's internal efficacy threshold, Foghorn discontinued independent FHD-286 AML development on December 16, 2024. The collaboration's lead asset is now FHD-909 (LY4050784), a first-in-class oral selective SMARCA2 inhibitor that dosed its first Phase 1 patient on October 10, 2024 in SMARCA4-mutated solid tumors (NSCLC primary).