Building a smart oncology pipeline with Cumulus Oncology

What It Covers

Claire Waring, founder and CEO of Cumulus Oncology, explains how her platform-agnostic, virtual biotech model builds a risk-adjusted oncology pipeline across three preclinical assets — GPR68, a PARG inhibitor, and a GTPase program — targeting candidate nomination in 2026 and first clinical trials in 2027.

Key Questions Answered

• •Platform-agnostic portfolio building: Rather than committing to one platform technology or modality, Cumulus takes option agreements on assets across small molecules, biologics, and degraders, evaluates target validity first, then selects the best modality. This structure allows the team to terminate underperforming projects before allocating significant capital or human resources, improving overall portfolio efficiency.
• •Patient subgroup enrichment as a clinical success driver: Defining the precise patient population before entering Phase 1 — using molecular profiling, bioinformatics, and chemoinformatics modeling — correlates directly with higher clinical success rates. Waring points to HER2, BRAF, and MEK inhibitor programs as historical proof that targeting the right subgroup from the outset produces measurably stronger clinical responses than broad enrollment strategies.
• •AI as a decision-support tool, not a buzzword: Waring frames AI specifically as bioinformatics, chemoinformatics, and molecular modeling — tools that interrogate biological data to validate targets and simulate small molecule properties before lab testing. The practical application is reducing failed synthesis cycles and generating higher-confidence patient subgroup hypotheses prior to IND-enabling studies, not replacing scientific judgment.
• •Matching investor type to development stage: Waring categorizes investors as builders, followers, and leaders, arguing that capital access is less the barrier than finding the right investor category for a given stage. Early-stage companies need builders willing to co-design preclinical plans and make introductions; scale-up companies need leaders with global networks — mismatches between company stage and investor type create more friction than funding gaps alone.
• •Preclinical deal flow is expanding: Pharma companies are moving deal-making earlier into preclinical stages, not just chasing clinically validated assets. Waring cites the Amgen acquisition of UK-based Dark Blue Therapeutics — a preclinical portfolio — as evidence that first-in-class assets with strong target rationale can attract major acquirers before clinical data exists, creating exit opportunities for lean, virtual biotechs operating at discovery stage.