Ormum Therapeutics announced that its asset transfer agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) has been terminated following BMS's decision to discontinue development of 'BMS-986497 (ORM-6151)', a candidate treatment for acute myeloid leukemia. The company has no obligation to return the $100 million down payment it has already received.

According to the regulatory filing, Ormum Therapeutics signed an asset transfer agreement with BMS on October 30, 2023, for ORM-6151, an acute myeloid leukemia treatment based on its TPD²-GSPT1 platform, and received a down payment of $100 million. BMS had since been conducting Phase 1 clinical trials of BMS-986497 (ORM-6151) in the United States, Europe, and Canada.

After reviewing the clinical data of the program, BMS decided to discontinue the development of ORM-6151 and notified Ormum Therapeutics of the decision along with the fact that its obligation to pay additional milestones had been extinguished.

However, the filing explained that Ormum Therapeutics has no obligation to return the $100 million down payment it has already received. The company stated that this agreement was signed prior to its listing on the KOSDAQ market. The milestone payments originally scheduled to be received exceeded 10% of assets based on its 2025 business report, prompting this disclosure.

Ormum Therapeutics plans to focus its research and development capabilities on its own pipeline using its DAC platform going forward.

Meanwhile, the date of occurrence and the decision date for this matter are September 16, 2026, based on the date the company was notified of the relevant facts by BMS in the United States.