Eisai Innovation, Inc. Golden Ticket 2023 Winner

Eisai Innovation, Inc. and MBC BioLabs are happy to announce Sardona Therapeutics, Inc. as the winner of their 2023 Golden Ticket Competition. Sardona Therapeutics, Inc. will be provided free lab space for one year in the state-of-the-art MBC BioLabs laboratory facility in San Francisco, California, enabling them to pursue drug discovery and innovation for the potential future benefit of patients worldwide.

Entries were received across a broad range of disease areas and included a number of exciting, innovative technologies. Sardona Therapeutics, Inc. was selected based on their novel precision oncology platform approach and a portfolio of small molecules that target RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) for the treatment of cancer. All aspects of the life of an RNA (including transcription, splicing, modification, intracellular trafficking, translation and decay) are mediated by RBPs. Aberrantly functioning RBPs cause RNA dysregulation that leads to cancer initiation, growth, metastasis and drug resistance. By targeting RBPs, Sardona’s small molecules are designed to modulate downstream dysregulated RNA that are causative of these oncogenic processes resulting in a differentiated approach to tackle clinically-validated oncogenic drivers for the treatment of cancer. The company’s lead therapeutic program is focused on addressing genetically-defined subsets of breast, prostate, lung and colorectal cancers. With the Eisai Innovation Golden Ticket, Sardona plans to accelerate the development of its lead program towards clinical trials.

“We are honored to have been selected for the Eisai Innovation Golden Ticket Award, which will enable us to expand the scope of our non-clinical studies and partner with the Eisai Innovation Team to accelerate the development of our first-in-class RNA-binding protein targeted therapies, potentially providing patients with novel, lifesaving treatment options,” said Martina Roos, Chief Executive Officer at Sardona Therapeutics. “Eisai Innovation has been at the forefront of targeting RNA-binding proteins in Oncology and its support through the Eisai Golden Ticket program is a tremendous validation of our science and therapeutic approach.”