On March 2, 2026 Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Osaka, Japan; President and COO: Toichi Takino; "Ono") and Congruence Therapeutics reported that they have expanded their existing multi-target research partnership through the execution of a new research collaboration for two additional programs.
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The expanded collaboration is focused on two clinically validated high-value targets in the areas of neurology and immunology for which Congruence will lead the effort to discover small molecule modulators and advance them to the development candidate stage. Ono will have the option to secure exclusive worldwide rights to further develop and commercialize development candidates generated under the new agreement.
An original collaboration between the companies, which began in December 2024, is focused on leveraging Congruence’s proprietary computational engine, Revenir, to discover novel small molecule correctors directed to mutants of a difficult-to-drug cancer target.
"We are excited to expand our partnership with Ono, a global pioneer of innovative medicines," said Sharath Hegde PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Congruence. "The expansion is a testament to the significant contributions we have made in our existing collaboration as well as the trust and confidence we continue to build with Ono. We look forward to leveraging the complementary strengths of both organizations to advance important research for the benefit of patients."
The new collaboration continues to leverage Congruence’s computational drug discovery engine, Revenir, which systematically captures the biophysical features of proteins in different functional states to enable a highly differentiated approach to small-molecule discovery.
Congruence’s wholly owned program directed to MC4R-deficient genetic obesity is entering a Phase 1/1b clinical study this month. In the next few weeks, Congruence will also nominate development candidates for each of its programs directed to GBA1-driven Parkinson’s Disease and Alpha-1 Antitrypsin deficiency.
"Congruence’s advanced computational discovery engine is attracting growing global attention with its lead program entering clinical development. We are honored that our ongoing collaboration with Congruence is expanding beyond oncology to other priority areas including both neurology and immunology," said Seishi Katsumata, Corporate Officer / Executive Director, Discovery & Research of Ono. "Through this partnership, we will be committed to accelerating the drug development so that we can deliver innovative new medicines to patients with unmet medical needs as quickly as possible."
Under the terms of the new agreement announced today, Congruence will receive an upfront payment and is eligible to receive additional payments upon the achievement of certain milestones in discovery, development, approval and commercialization – in addition to tiered royalties based on annual net sales of related products. Moreover, Ono will reimburse Congruence for the internal and external research costs it incurs in connection with the activities undertaken in the expanded partnership.
About Revenir Drug Discovery Platform
Revenir, Congruence’s proprietary computational drug discovery platform, captures the dynamic biophysical changes of proteins in different functional states, offering unique insights into protein function and their modulation. By examining surface features and a spectrum of biophysical descriptors across an ensemble of protein conformers, Revenir predicts small molecule induced modulation of underlying physiologic protein states. This platform-driven strategy underpins Congruence’s growing pipeline of first-in-class and best-in-class programs directed to genetically validated targets implicated in conditions associated with significant unmet medical need, supporting a readily scalable and repeatable value creation paradigm.
(Press release, Congruence Therapeutics, MAR 2, 2026, View Source [SID1234663173])