Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc. is a publicly trading American pharmaceutical company pioneering therapies for genetically defined diseases, with a near-term focus on developing therapies for hemolytic anemias. The company was founded in 2008 (or 2007) by Lewis Cantley, Tak Mak and

Craig Thompson Craig Matthew Thompson (born September 21, 1975) is an American graphic novelist best known for his books ''Good-bye, Chunky Rice'' (1999), ''Blankets (graphic novel), Blankets'' (2003), ''Carnet de Voyage'' (2004), ''Habibi (graphic novel), Hab ...

. Agios is a Delaware corporation headquartered in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. The company tendered an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

in July 2013.

History

In 2012, Agios was named among the defendants in a

lawsuit A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...

against one of its founders,

, alleging that Thompson used research illegally taken from the Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute in research at Agios. In May 2016, the company announced it would launch partnership with

Celgene Celgene Corporation, headquartered in Summit, New Jersey, was a pharmaceutical company that produced cancer and immunology drugs. Its primary products were Revlimid (lenalidomide), which is used in the treatment of multiple myeloma (63% of 2018 r ...

, developing metabolic immuno-oncology therapies and licensing AG-221 as well as AG-881 to Celgene, potentially garnering Agios $120 million in drug licensing payments. In April 2017, the company raised $250 million in a new stock offering in anticipation of approval for its first cancer drug, enasidenib, by the US

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

. In December 2017, the company filed a

New Drug Application The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) New Drug Application (NDA) is the vehicle in the United States through which drug sponsors formally propose that the FDA approve a new pharmaceutical for sale and marketing. Some 30% or less of initial ...

with the US FDA for ivosidenib for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory

acute myeloid leukemia Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a cancer of the myeloid line of blood cells, characterized by the rapid growth of abnormal cells that build up in the bone marrow and blood and interfere with haematopoiesis, normal blood cell production. Sympt ...

with an IDH1 mutation. In November 2019, Agios announced an underwritten public offering of 8,250,000 shares of common stock at a price of $31.00 per share which would result in approximately $256 million aggregate gross proceeds. In April 2022, the FDA approved

mitapivat Mitapivat, sold under the brand name Pyrukynd, is a medication used to treat hemolytic anemia. It is taken as the sulfate hydrate salt by mouth. Mitapivat is a pyruvate kinase activator. The most common side effects include decreases in estron ...

as first disease-modifying therapy for

hemolytic anemia Hemolytic anemia or haemolytic anaemia is a form of anemia due to hemolysis, the abnormal breakdown of red blood cells (RBCs), either in the blood vessels (intravascular hemolysis) or elsewhere in the human body (extravascular). This most commonl ...

in adults with

pyruvate kinase Pyruvate kinase is the enzyme involved in the last step of glycolysis. It catalyzes the transfer of a phosphate group from phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) to adenosine diphosphate (ADP), yielding one molecule of pyruvate and one molecule of ATP. Pyruv ...

deficiency.

Corporate governance

, Agios'

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

is Brian Goff. Agios was established as a private company and converted to a public company with its

in July 2013 and subsequent listing on

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

References

Pharmaceutical companies of the United States Pharmaceutical companies established in 2008 Companies based in Cambridge, Massachusetts Companies listed on the Nasdaq Health care companies based in Massachusetts 2013 initial public offerings 2008 establishments in Massachusetts American companies established in 2008 {{med-company-stub