Tay Therapeutics in licensing deal with VYNE Therapeutics

Tay Therapeutics Ltd’s exclusive license deal with VYNE Therapeutics Inc. on the oral BET inhibitor, TAY-B2 (now known as VYN201) forsees an upfront payment of $4m from VYNE and potential milestone revenues of $65m for the first indications along with tiered royalty payments of up to 10% of net annual sales if the drug gets market-approval.

According to the Dundee-based company, a licencing option has been already inked by Vyne in 2021. After preclinical tests demonstrated potent anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects of the oral compound, VYNE now exercised its option to progress TAY-B2 (VYN202) into Phase I clinical testing to treat major immuno-inflammatory conditions. VYNE has initiated IND enabling studies and intends to file an IND in the US by the end of the year.

Bromodomain and extraterminal (BET) proteins play key roles in the regulation of gene expression, primarily through recruitment of the Mediator complex and positive transcription elongation factor b (p-TEFb) to acetylated histones. Aberrant acetylation of histones surrounding proto-oncogenes during oncogenesis and tumor progression suggests that BET proteins may play a role in cancer cell proliferation, survival, and oncogenic progression, providing a rationale for using BET inhibitors as anticancer drugs

Clinical trials with competing BET protein blockers have shown that they have haematological adverse side effects that are manageable.