A Strategic Turn from Obesity to Cancer

What It Covers

Terns Pharmaceuticals CEO Annie Burrows explains how the company pivoted from metabolic disease to chronic myeloid leukemia after its allosteric BCR-ABL inhibitor TURN-701 achieved a 75% major molecular response rate in third-line-plus patients, compared to 25% for the current best-in-class therapy, prompting a $748M capital raise.

Key Questions Answered

• •Allosteric vs. active-site inhibition: TURN-701 binds the allosteric site on the BCR-ABL fusion protein rather than the active site, producing greater selectivity and avoiding off-target kinase hits. This mechanism eliminates side effects common to first- and second-generation therapies, including arterial occlusive events, pleural effusion in roughly 30% of patients, hypertension, and pancreatitis.
• •Efficacy benchmark: In third-line-plus CML patients, TURN-701 achieved a 75% major molecular response rate at doses under expansion, versus 25% for the current leading therapy in comparable patient populations. Reaching undetectable transcript levels for three to five consecutive years allows some patients to discontinue therapy entirely and remain in remission.
• •Tolerability as a commercial differentiator: TURN-701 can be taken without food restrictions, while competing allosteric and active-site inhibitors require a three-hour fasting window once or twice daily. For patients on lifelong therapy, food-unrestricted dosing directly improves adherence and reduces efficacy loss from non-compliance, making tolerability a primary commercial positioning argument.
• •Capital allocation discipline: Terns is licensing out its THR-beta asset TURN-501 and GIPRA antagonist TURN-801 series rather than funding parallel development tracks. Concentrating the $748M raise exclusively on TURN-701 provides sufficient runway to complete pivotal trials and self-fund a commercial launch without additional financing, eliminating dilution risk for existing shareholders.
• •Regulatory and development timeline: Terns plans to present two meaningfully differentiated doses to the FDA under Project Optimus requirements, select the optimal dose, and initiate a second-line-plus pivotal trial of approximately 250 patients by late 2026 or early 2027, with a frontline pivotal trial to follow, mirroring the trial size used by the approved allosteric competitor.