Sumitovant Biopharma aims to make a difference in people’s lives by rapidly developing innovative medicines, using a technology-enabled approach to drug discovery, development and commercialization. An important element of that approach is the company’s computational-technology platform, DrugOME, which informs and accelerates decision-making at every stage of drug development. The platform has been used to support the development of several therapies approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) within Sumitovant’s portfolio, which currently includes programs for cancer, reproductive health, pulmonary and urologic diseases, and rare and ultra-rare disorders.
Introducing the DrugOME
The DrugOME is a computational and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven ecosystem that rests on three pillars: a pharma-focused natural language processing (NLP) engine; integrated, structured drug development data; and real-world data (RWD) and evidence (Fig. 1). The DrugOME team has built an extensive codebase to unite and translate these pillars into strategic analyses that span the drug development process, from identifying potential assets for acquisition to optimizing the commercialization of those assets. The analyses can form a complete picture of a drug’s potential, including identifying clinical risks, selecting an indication, planning the duration and cost of clinical trials, informing clinical strategy, sizing the potential market, and developing and executing a commercial strategy.
Fig. 1 | An overview of DrugOME’s capabilities. The three pillars, a pharma-focused natural language processing engine, structured drug development data and real-world data and evidence power the computational and AI-driven DrugOME. SG&A, selling, general, and administrative expenses.
“Strategic analytics in pharma tends to be fragmented,” explained Bill McMahon, Sumitovant’s chief algorithmic analytics officer. “In contrast, at Sumitovant we have implemented a holistic, technology-forward approach focused on understanding drug value. By leveraging and continuously expanding our in-house DrugOME capabilities, we have built a tool that generates highly effective insights to help us make strategic pharma decisions. We have already leveraged those insights across the subsidiaries of Sumitovant to substantial success.”
In the drug discovery phase, the DrugOME provides NLP tools that enable an almost complete understanding and selection of mechanisms of action, complementing the activity of a traditional drug discovery team. Those same tools can extract targeted competitive intelligence, enhancing organizational IQ and focusing the attention of a business development team. DrugOME’s extensive integration of structured clinical trial, claims and commercial data enables quantitative comparisons of drugs within a therapeutic area, highlighting opportunities either for clinical strategy or for new asset in-licensing. Finally, the DrugOME platform builds on extensive ‘real-world’ patient, physician and payer data, which supports a more accurate and effective characterization of how indications are being treated, and who is paying for the treatments.
“Our approach enables significant growth opportunities, not just for Sumitovant but also for potential partners,” said Myrtle Potter, CEO of Sumitovant. “From target selection to commercialization, we can collaborate with potential partners and leverage our AI capabilities to generate win–win opportunities.”
Potential partners that could benefit from Sumitovant’s DrugOME platform include early-stage biotech companies looking to accelerate discovery and development activities, biotech companies with unique manufacturing capabilities, large pharmaceutical companies that rely on external analytic capabilities, and capital partners interested in a low-risk approach to drug development.
An insight into Sumitovant
Founded in 2019, Sumitovant is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Pharma. The DrugOME is owned by Sumitomo Pharma. Sumitovant develops the platform for Sumitomo Pharma and has an exclusive license to the DrugOME and provides the technical and operational services of the DrugOME to Sumitomo Pharma’s group of companies, including Sumitovant and its portfolio of companies.
Potter is a former president and COO of Genentech and has a proven track record of bringing successful drugs to market. Sumitovant is also the parent company of Urovant, Enzyvant, Altavant, and Spirovant, and is the majority owner of the publicly listed life-sciences company Myovant, all of which can benefit from access to the DrugOME for their development pipelines. To date, the Sumitovant family of companies has brought to market four innovative, FDA-approved drugs.
Sumitovant expects to keep building a diverse portfolio of transformative therapies across many indications, on its own and with others. An innate spirit of thinking differently is at the core of Sumitovant’s mission and allows the company to ask and answer critical questions that reduce costs and development timelines, and reduce the inherent uncertainty of drug development.