Forma Therapeutics Inc.'s goose that lays the golden eggs just hatched one that could be worth about $815 million in a four-year drug discovery deal with Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH.

As part of the new R&D collaboration between the German big pharma company and the Watertown, Mass., startup building its reputation on drug discovery, Forma bagged $65 million in an up-front payment and research funding, with the promise of up to $750 million in pre-commercial milestones as it helps Boehringer discover small molecule drugs against oncology-relevant protein-protein interactions.

The partnership is one of a basketful of golden eggs Forma has laid with big biopharma over the past few years. Like the others, this one provides growth, flexibility and liquidity – for the company and its shareholders.

"We really think about how our partnerships allow us to grow our drug discovery capabilities," Forma CEO Steven Tregay told BioWorld Today. The biotech looks at partnerships as a strategic way to build those capabilities.

With its focus on protein-protein interactions, for instance, the Boehringer deal will allow Forma to bring some real innovation to the discovery process in a challenging drug space, Tregay said. Many of the "undruggable" cancer and other hard-to-hit targets involve protein-protein interactions.

Just as Forma looks for scientific innovation in its drug discovery, it looks for the same type of innovation in its business model. Its collaborations are designed to provide flexibility and liquidity.

The Boehringer agreement is no exception. It "offers Forma and our shareholders several opportunities to realize early return through assets developed under this collaboration," Tregay said.

While other startups tend to build toward an initial public offering or an acquisition, "we're not worried about the first exit," he added. Instead, the company looks for ways to capture value for its shareholders, which include Cubist Pharmaceuticals, EDBI, Lilly Ventures and the Novartis Option Fund. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 2, 2009.)

Besides, in a traditional exit such as an acquisition, the value is too often placed on the eggs – not the goose that laid them, Tregay noted. Thus, a profitable drug discovery platform is likely to be undervalued.

That's not to say an acquisition isn't in Forma's future. Tregay said there is interest from big pharma. But for now, the company is content with hatching those golden eggs, proving the long-term value of its drug-discovery capabilities.

Meanwhile, Forma is looking at producing some golden eggs for itself. While partnerships can use up internal capacity, the company is making sure that doesn't happen. It recently moved into a new facility in Watertown, doubling its space.

The facility expands Forma's high-throughput screening capacity from 7 million wells to more than 30 million wells per year, which will increase the speed and efficiency for its partners, as well as its own drug discovery programs.

The company plans to run 30 of its own targets through high throughput screening this year as it builds its pipeline of small molecule cancer drugs aimed at tumor metabolism, epigenetics and protein-protein interactions, Tregay said.

The new facility also is designed to support the company's planned 30 percent growth in staff needed to develop Forma's pipeline and service its partnerships with Boehringer, Cubist, Eisai Co. Ltd., Genentech Inc. and Novartis. (See BioWorld Today, Jan. 13, 2009, Jan. 27, 2009, Nov. 18, 2010, and June 28, 2011.)

Are more golden eggs in Forma's future? "We always have a few tricks up our sleeves," Tregay said.