Recursion Enters Into Global Licensing Agreement with Takeda to Develop TAK-733 in Hereditary Cancer Syndrome

Recursion announced it has entered into a global licensing agreement with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda) to gain rights to TAK-733, a clinical-stage MEK inhibitor, and develop it for the treatment of a hereditary cancer syndrome and related areas of oncology.

“TAK-733 is a great example of the power of our approach to decode challenging and important areas of biology. By applying machine learning to images of cells, we capture cellular changes accompanying hundreds of unique biological perturbations, and even loss of just a single gene,” said Chris Gibson, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO, Recursion. “Using our platform, we uncovered targeted areas of oncology where TAK-733 could be effective. And because our dataset is fully relatable, we then cross-referenced TAK-733 against hundreds of disease models we’ve developed already or will develop in the coming years.”

TAK-733 was identified as a potential treatment for a hereditary tumor syndrome using Recursion’s approach to creating cellular models of diseases where genes are inactive. Using its automated drug discovery platform, Recursion discovered the potential of TAK-733 by testing more than 200 potential molecules from Takeda’s library against the most effective potential treatment for cancers carrying particular mutations.

“We’re making immense progress in oncology by understanding the genetic drivers of different tumor types and developing targeted therapeutics,” said Ron Alfa, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Translational Discovery. “Almost all available drugs today target a particular type of mutation that result in activated proteins — oncogenes. However, most tumors also harbor mutations that eliminate or deactivate proteins, tumor suppressors, and only a few of these pathways have been understood well enough to develop therapeutics. Recursion’s platform opens the door to discovering targeted therapeutics that are effective when these tumor suppressors are inactive.”