Strasbourg, France – Montreal, Canada, June 28, 2022 – Domain Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the research and development of innovative drugs targeting G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCRs) in immuno-oncology (IO), today announced that it obtained a single digit multimillion milestone payment from Merck as part of the €240m ($261m) milestone payments and undisclosed royalties collaboration and license partnership signed in 2017.

M1069 is an orally available small molecule antagonist of adenosine receptors discovered jointly by both companies. This productive and successful partnership, based on Domain’s expertise in GPCR medicinal chemistry, pharmacology and drug discovery, led to the identification of the drug candidate M1069 to be included in the oncology pipeline of Merck.

Over the last years, several GPCRs were identified as targets to address tumor immunosuppressive strategies to evade immune responses, even in case of immune-checkpoint inhibitor treatment. M1069 aims at thwarting one of these immunosuppressive strategies whereby adenosine is released in the tumor microenvironment.

In the meantime, the Company has built a unique and well-differentiated pipeline with diverse programs targeting specific immunosuppression mechanisms, aiming to provide therapeutic solutions to patients unresponsive to immune-checkpoint inhibitors. This outstanding ability to deliver candidates against validated GPCR targets, as well as to innovate with first-in-class programs focusing on brand new GPCR targets in immuno-oncology, has put Domain at the forefront of innovation in the field.