Acrivon and the Array gift that keeps on giving

Even after being sold to Pfizer, Array Biopharma lives on. The latest example of the former biotech’s scientific genius, responsible for such assets as Mektovi, Braftovi, Vitrakvi, Tukysa and adagrasib, can be seen in the newly minted Acrivon Therapeutics, whose IPO got away yesterday. Acrivon’s lead, ACR-368, is none other than prexasertib, a CHK-1 inhibitor that had arisen from a 2001 collaboration between Array and Icos. Lilly later bought Icos, but discontinued prexasertib in 2019, a year after Roche canned a rival Array-originated CHK-1 inhibitor, RG7741. But now Acrivon reckons it can build on the “deep, durable, single-agent” responses generated in a few subjects by using a predictive gene signature test to identify the 30% or so of ovarian cancer patients sensitive to prexasertib, and thus deliver remission rates above the 15-20% seen by Lilly in an unselected population. Though Acrivon priced its float at $12.50, well below its $16-18 range, at least the IPO got away – no mean feat given the current market, and that Acrivon is effectively recycling a discontinued asset that has no meaningful patent life. Mid-stage data from a trial using the predictive assay will come in late 2023.