Circle Pharma to Showcase 'Undruggable' Cancer Drug Platform at JPM

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA – January 05, 2026 – Circle Pharma, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, is set to take the stage at the prestigious 44th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, an event that often sets the tone for the biotech industry for the year ahead. On January 14, President and CEO David J. Earp, J.D., Ph.D., will present an overview of the company’s ambitious strategy to tackle historically “undruggable” cancer targets using its proprietary macrocycle platform.

The presentation is highly anticipated by investors and industry experts, as it will shine a spotlight on Circle’s two first-in-class oral cancer therapies. This platform offers a significant opportunity for the company to attract strategic partnerships and investor capital, both crucial for advancing its innovative pipeline through costly clinical trials and into the hands of patients battling advanced cancers.

The Macrocycle Revolution

At the heart of Circle Pharma’s strategy is its proprietary MXMO™ platform, an engine for discovering and developing a unique class of drugs known as macrocycles. These molecules are larger than traditional small-molecule drugs but smaller than biologic therapies like antibodies. Their unique size and constrained, three-dimensional structure allow them to bind with high precision to challenging therapeutic targets, particularly the complex protein-protein interactions that drive many diseases, including cancer.

For decades, developing macrocycles into effective oral medications has been a formidable challenge. Many such molecules struggle to penetrate cells or survive the digestive system, limiting their therapeutic potential. Circle’s MXMO™ platform, however, integrates structure-based rational drug design with advanced synthetic chemistry to overcome these hurdles. The platform is engineered to predict and design macrocycles that are not only potent but also intrinsically cell-permeable and orally bioavailable.

This technology allows the company to explore what is often termed the “beyond Rule of 5” chemical space, where many promising but difficult-to-drug targets reside. By designing molecules with features like internal hydrogen bonding, the MXMO™ platform can create therapies that can be taken as a simple pill, a significant advantage for patient convenience and adherence over intravenous treatments.

Targeting the Core Machinery of Cancer

Circle Pharma is directing its powerful platform at one of the most fundamental drivers of cancer: the cell cycle. The company’s pipeline is focused on developing inhibitors for cyclins, a family of proteins that act as master regulators of cell division. When dysregulated, cyclins can cause cells to proliferate uncontrollably, a hallmark of cancer. While the market has seen success with drugs that target cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), Circle is pursuing a more direct approach by inhibiting the cyclins themselves.

This strategy allows for potentially greater selectivity and a different safety profile. The company’s lead programs, CID-078 and CID-165, are designed to do just that. They represent a new wave of cancer therapeutics aimed at shutting down the disease at a critical control point that has long been considered inaccessible to conventional drugs.

CID-078, a first-in-class oral cyclin A/B inhibitor, is currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial (NCT06577987) for patients with advanced solid tumors. Its mechanism specifically targets cancer cells with high E2F activity, a common feature in tumors with alterations in the RB1 suppressor gene. Preclinical studies have shown that CID-078 can induce single-agent tumor regression in multiple models. The trial is enrolling patients with several hard-to-treat cancers, including small cell lung cancer and triple-negative breast cancer, offering new hope where other treatments have failed.

Following closely behind is CID-165, a first-in-class oral cyclin D1 inhibitor. This candidate holds promise for malignancies like ER-positive breast cancer and certain lymphomas. Critically, CID-165 is designed to specifically target cyclin D1 while sparing cyclin D3. This is a key differentiator from some existing CDK4/6 inhibitors, where off-target effects on cyclin D3 can lead to dose-limiting toxicities like neutropenia. An Investigational New Drug (IND) application for CID-165 is anticipated in late 2026.

Strategic Positioning in a Competitive Market

Circle Pharma enters the spotlight at a time of intense competition and opportunity in the oncology market. The global market for cancer CDK inhibitors, currently valued around $5 billion, is projected to triple to $15 billion by 2033. This space is dominated by pharmaceutical giants Pfizer, Novartis, and Eli Lilly, whose CDK4/6 inhibitors—Palbociclib, Ribociclib, and Abemaciclib—have become standard-of-care treatments for HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer.

While these drugs have been transformative, the emergence of drug resistance and the need for better-tolerated therapies create a significant opening for next-generation treatments. Circle’s direct cyclin inhibitors offer a novel mechanism of action that could prove effective in patients who have become resistant to existing therapies or could provide a safer alternative. The company's focus on oral bioavailability further enhances the commercial potential of its pipeline assets.

Investor confidence in this strategy has been robust. Circle Pharma has successfully raised $210 million in funding to date, including a substantial $92.4 million Series D round in June 2024 led by The Column Group (TCG). This capital is fueling the clinical advancement of CID-078 and the broader discovery pipeline.

Furthermore, the company has secured key strategic partnerships that validate its technology. A collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim, potentially worth up to $607 million, is aimed at developing another first-in-class cyclin inhibitor. More recently, Circle announced an agreement to leverage Eli Lilly’s AI/ML platform, TuneLab, to further enhance the predictive power of its MXMO™ platform and accelerate drug discovery. Under the leadership of CEO David J. Earp, who brings extensive experience in biotech corporate strategy and intellectual property from his time at Geron Corporation, Circle appears well-positioned to navigate the complex path from clinical development to market. The upcoming presentation will be a pivotal moment to communicate this compelling vision to a global audience, potentially marking a new chapter in the development of targeted cancer therapies.