Vividion Therapeutics and Bayer Further Strengthen Oncology Development Pipeline with Clinical-Stage WRN Inhibitor

• VVD-214 is the only clinical-stage covalent inhibitor of Werner helicase (WRN) in development worldwide

• WRN inhibition may provide therapeutic benefit in a range of solid tumor types with high microsatellite instability (MSI), such as colorectal, endometrial, ovarian, gastric, and other cancers

• Preliminary data from a first-in-human study presented at the recent American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting showed that VVD-214 is well tolerated and has promising signs of activity

San Diego, CA, USA, Berlin, Germany, June 4, 2025 – Vividion Therapeutics, Inc. (Vividion), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, and a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG, today announced it has secured exclusive worldwide rights to develop and commercialize the clinical-stage Werner helicase (WRN) covalent inhibitor VVD-214 (RO7589831), strengthening and complementing its innovative oncology development pipeline. VVD-214 was discovered and developed under an exclusive worldwide collaboration and license agreement initiated between Vividion and Roche in 2020. Vividon utilizes innovative discovery technologies to unlock difficult-to-drug targets with strong disease-links, and to develop small molecule precision therapeutics for devastating cancers and immune disorders.

Preliminary data from a first-in-human study presented at the recent American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting showed that VVD-214 is well tolerated and has promising signs of activity. Vividion will continue the clinical development of VVD-214 within the company’s pipeline of innovative investigational therapeutics for cancers and immune disorders.

WRN is a DNA repair enzyme and a highly sought-after synthetic lethal target for treatment of cancers with microsatellite instability (MSI). By inhibiting WRN, VVD-214 aims to cause lethal DNA damage in cancers with high microsatellite instability while minimizing harm to healthy cells.

The Phase I clinical trial (NCT06004245) is evaluating VVD-214 as a monotherapy and in combination with pembrolizumab as a treatment option for patients with solid tumors that display high MSI or deficient mismatch repair (dMMR) including but not limited to colorectal, endometrial, ovarian and gastric cancers. Treatment options for these patients today are limited, and patients may relapse or become refractory to immune checkpoint inhibitors. The initial data, recently presented at AACR by Timothy Yap, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., clinical investigator and professor of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, showed early signals of efficacy for VVD-214 in a range of solid tumor types with high MSI.  

“VVD-214 is showing promising potential to improve treatment options for patients suffering from MSI-high cancers, a population with high unmet medical need,” said Christian Rommel, Ph.D., Global Head of Research and Development at Bayer’s Pharmaceuticals Division. “It underscores the ability of Vividion’s chemoproteomics technology to identify and advance new treatment opportunities for challenging and intractable diseases, and will be a valuable addition to the company’s portfolio.”

Vividion also has ongoing Phase I trials evaluating an oral KEAP1 activator in solid tumors, an oral STAT3 inhibitor in solid and hematologic malignancies, and an oral RAS-PI3Kα inhibitor in advanced solid tumors. The company is advancing multiple innovative drug discovery programs toward the clinic and has a growing pipeline of opportunities emerging in early discovery in the fields of oncology and immunology leveraging its chemoproteomics platform.

About Vividion
Vividion Therapeutics, Inc., a wholly owned and independently operated subsidiary of Bayer AG, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company utilizing novel discovery technologies to unlock difficult-to-drug targets with strong disease-links, and to develop small molecule precision therapeutics for devastating cancers and immune disorders. The company’s platform has enabled it to identify hundreds of previously unknown functional pockets on well-validated protein targets implicated in a wide range of diseases, while simultaneously identifying compounds from its proprietary covalent chemistry library that interact in a highly selective manner with those pockets. The company is leveraging its proprietary chemoproteomic platform to advance a diversified pipeline of highly selective small molecule therapeutics targeting high-value, traditionally undruggable targets in oncology and immunology. For more information, please visit www.vividion.com.

About Bayer
Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the life science fields of health care and nutrition. In line with its mission, “Health for all, Hunger for none,” the company’s products and services are designed to help people and the planet thrive by supporting efforts to master the major challenges presented by a growing and aging global population. Bayer is committed to driving sustainable development and generating a positive impact with its businesses. At the same time, the Group aims to increase its earning power and create value through innovation and growth. The Bayer brand stands for trust, reliability and quality throughout the world. In fiscal 2024, the Group employed around 93,000 people and had sales of 46.6 billion euros. R&D expenses amounted to 6.2 billion euros. 

Bayer Global Media Contact:
Derin Denham, phone +1 973 610 7324
Email: derin.denham@bayer.com

Bayer U.S. Media Contact:
Elaine Colon, phone +1 732 236 1587
Email: elaine.colon@bayer.com

Vividion Media Contact:
Laurie Sherman, phone +1 858 630 8246
Email: media@vividion.com

Forward-Looking Statements 
This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments. 

References

^{1.  Timothy A. Yap et al. “Abstract CT016: First-in-human (FIH) phase 1 trial of the oral first-in-class covalent Werner helicase (WRN) inhibitor RO7589831 in patients with microsatellite instable (MSI) and/or mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) advanced solid tumors”. Cancer Res (2025) 85 (8_Supplement_2): CT016. Available at https://doi.org/10.1158/1538-7445.AM2025-CT016. Accessed: May 2025.}