FierceBiotech Names Syros Pharmaceuticals as One of Its “Fierce 15” Biotech Companies of 2015

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Syros Pharmaceuticals, the industry pioneer in gene control medicines, today announced that it has been named by FierceBiotech as one of 2015’s Fierce 15 biotechnology companies. The award designates Syros as one of the most promising private companies in the biotech industry.

Syros, established in 2013, discovers and develops gene control medicines using a proprietary platform to systematically identify gene regulatory alterations that give rise to disease and to identify novel biomarkers and drugs. Syros is rapidly advancing several gene control medicines into the clinic, including SY-1425 (tamibarotene). SY-1425 is a first-in-class selective agonist to retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARα), a nuclear hormone receptor which regulates transcription. Using its platform, Syros discovered a cancer dependency to RARα and a biomarker to identify patients with this dependency who may respond to RARα agonist therapy. Syros plans to initiate a Phase 2 clinical trial with SY-1425 in the first half of 2016 in this genomically-defined subset of patients with AML and MDS.

“We are thrilled to be selected as a Fierce 15 company for our progress in discovering and developing medicines that treat disease at its core with novel approaches to predict patient response,” Nancy Simonian, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Syros. “This recognition is testament to the strong foundation established at Syros based on our world-renowned scientific founders, incredibly talented and dedicated employees and supportive investors and board of directors. We are excited about the next evolution of the company as we bring our first-in-class medicines to patients.”

About the Fierce 15 and FierceBiotech

The Fierce 15 celebrates the spirit of being “fierce” – championing innovation and creativity, even in the face of intense competition. This is FierceBiotech’s thirteenth annual Fierce 15 selection. A complete list of “Fierce 15” companies can be found online at www.fiercebiotech.com/fierce15.

Every year FierceBiotech evaluates hundreds of private companies from around the world for its annual Fierce 15 list, which is based on a variety of factors such as the strength of its technology, partnerships, venture backers and a competitive market position.

FierceBiotech is the biotech industry's daily monitor, an email newsletter and web resource providing the latest biotech news, articles, and resources related to clinical trials, drug discovery, FDA approval, FDA regulation, patent news, pharma news, biotech company news and more. More than 150,000 top biotech professionals rely on FierceBiotech for an insider briefing on the day's top stories. Signup is free at www.fiercebiotech.com/signup.

About Syros Pharmaceuticals

Syros Pharmaceuticals is a therapeutics company harnessing breakthroughs in gene control to revolutionize the treatment of cancer and other diseases. Syros’ proprietary platform identifies the master switches for disease genes, opening a whole new approach to novel therapeutics and biomarkers. The Company’s founders are pioneers in gene control research and translation. Co-founded by Flagship Ventures and ARCH Venture Partners, Syros Pharmaceuticals is located in Cambridge, Mass. For more information, visit www.syros.com.