Critical cellular functions have redundant mechanisms to ensure cell viability (e.g. two genes with similar function). Oncogenic events can lead to loss of one of the genes making the remaining gene essential (synthetic lethal). Targeting a synthetic lethal interaction beyond DNA damage repair results in selective tumor cell death while sparing healthy normal cells (precision lethal).​

Our Research Alliance evolved from the Novo Broad Greenhouse, a joint initiative between Novo Ventures and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Our ongoing Research Alliance accelerates our precision lethality approach through a combination of deep drug discovery expertise, world-class cancer biology, access to proprietary platform technologies, and continued insights from our scientific co-founders (William C. Hahn, MD, PhD; Francisca Vazquez, PhD; Andrew Aguirre, MD, PhD; Kent Mouw, MD, PhD; Eliezer Van Allen, MD; Peter Tsvetkov, PhD).