RLAY - Relay Therapeutics: Platform More Important Than Programs

2024-03-13 02:50:14 ET

Summary

• Relay is a precision medicine company with a focus on understanding protein dynamics. The company is developing small molecule drugs for oncology, but its platform has broader applicability.
• Relay's stock has declined significantly since listing due to the combination of a difficult macro environment and a lack of positive clinical data.
• Sentiment appears to be overly bearish given Relay's long-term potential, although it could take the company several years to build data that supports its approach.

After declining significantly on the back of poor clinical data, Relay Therapeutics' ( RLAY ) stock has been treading water over the past 10 months. Investors appear to be overly focused on the progress of individual drugs, rather than Relay's structure-based drug design platform, which seeks to leverage an understanding of protein motion. For better or worse, it will likely take years for the merits of Relay's approach to be fully understood, though.

Overview

Relay is a drug discovery company leveraging technology to develop precision medicines, with an initial focus on small molecules for oncology. Relay's approach is somewhat similar to that pioneered by Vertex ( VRTX ), except that Relay makes greater use of simulation and AI. Relay's platform is also comparable to Schrodinger's ( SDGR ) drug discovery business, with the difference being Relay's focus on protein motion. While this approach is computationally intensive, hardware advances provide a natural tailwind....

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