Foghorn Therapeutics to Target Gene Expression with $50Million

Flagship Pioneering has unveiled Foghorn Therapeutics, a unique life science innovation enterprise that uses its proprietary Gene Traffic Control product platform to discover and develop drugs based on novel insights into the chromatin regulatory system which directs gene expression in cells. Flagship Pioneering developed and launched Foghorn Therapeutics through its innovation foundry, Flagship VentureLabs, and has made an initial $50 million capital commitment to the venture.

Foghorn was founded in 2016 by Cigall Kadoch, Ph.D., of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, and the Broad Institute; Doug Cole, M.D., of Flagship Pioneering; and Gerald Crabtree, M.D., of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Stanford University to develop treatments for cancer and other serious diseases. Adrian Gottschalk, formerly senior vice president and neurodegeneration therapeutic area head at Biogen, is the company’s CEO.

“Genes determine critical aspects of health and disease,” said Doug Cole, current chairman of Foghorn’s board of directors. “Cells rely on the chromatin regulatory system to direct which genes are expressed and when, where, and in what order they are expressed. The chromatin regulatory system represents a pivotal, unexploited area on which to build effective new therapeutic strategies…”

Since establishing operations, Foghorn Therapeutics has developed its proprietary Gene Traffic Control product platform that has generated new insights into disease, created six programs, and built a discovery engine that is yielding many additional targets. The company is in the process of developing drug candidates across a range of cancers and is exploring applications of Gene Traffic Control in neurology and immunology. (Source: Foghorn Therapeutics Website, 14 March, 2018)