Wholly-owned laboratory has received CLIA certification from Massachusetts with full license to conduct patient testing and develop companion diagnostics
Laboratory provides significant operational and strategic benefits for internal and future partnered assets
WATERTOWN, Mass., Feb. 18, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Acrivon Therapeutics, Inc. (“Acrivon” or “Acrivon Therapeutics”) (Nasdaq: ACRV), a clinical stage biotechnology company discovering and developing precision medicines utilizing its proprietary Generative Phosphoproteomics AP3 (Acrivon Predictive Precision Proteomics) platform designed to interpret and quantify global compound-specific, drug-regulated effects in the intact cell which is deployed for rational drug design and predictive clinical development, today announced the completion and certification of its internal, wholly-owned and operated Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment (CLIA) certified laboratory, located on premises in Watertown.
This state-of-the-art facility has received CLIA certification from the state of Massachusetts and is expected to become fully operational during the first half of 2026. The CLIA certification signifies that the lab operates in accordance with CLIA regulations, which are federal standards applicable to all U.S. facilities testing human specimens for health assessment, diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of diseases and ensures high standards for accuracy and reliability in laboratory testing.
"We are excited to bring our cutting-edge CLIA lab online, expanding our targeted therapeutics development capabilities,” said Peter Blume-Jensen, M.D., Ph.D., chief executive officer, president, and co-founder of Acrivon. "Complementing our distinctive AP3-driven biomarker discovery technology, our internal CLIA lab enables us to translate these discoveries and deploy proprietary companion diagnostics for our therapeutics with minimal dependency on outside partners."
By bringing CLIA operations in-house, the company gains enhanced capabilities to support the development of its current and future targeted therapeutic agents. This includes full control over the identification of predictive biomarkers, the development of companion diagnostics, indication finding, and the streamlining of potential co-regulatory approvals and co-commercialization of therapeutic and diagnostic products. Additionally, the lab is expected to increase speed and cost-efficiency in precision medicine drug development. The lab will also be leveraged for business development and potential partnering opportunities for internally developed assets, externally partnered programs, or in-licensed therapies. The company has staffed the lab with an experienced team of professionals who understand the opportunities and complexities associated with running a world-class CLIA lab.
About Acrivon Therapeutics
Acrivon is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing precision medicines utilizing its proprietary Generative Phosphoproteomics AP3 platform. The platform allows the company to interpret and quantify compound specific, drug-regulated pathway activity levels inside the intact cell in an unbiased manner, yielding terabytes of proprietary data and delivering rapid, actionable insights. The Generative Phosphoproteomics AP3 platform is comprised of a growing suite of powerful, internally-developed tools, including the AP3 Data Portal, converting multimodal data into structured data for generative AI analyses, the AP3 Kinase Substrate Relationship Predictor and the AP3 Interactome. These distinctive capabilities enable the company to go beyond the limitations of traditional drug discovery, as well as current AI-based target-centric drug discovery, and rapidly design highly differentiated compounds with desirable pathway effects through intracellular protein network analyses and advance these agents into the clinic for streamlined development.
Acrivon is currently advancing its lead program, ACR-368 (also known as prexasertib), a selective small molecule inhibitor targeting CHK1 and CHK2 in a potentially registrational Phase 2 trial for endometrial cancer. The company has received Fast Track designation from the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, for the investigation of ACR-368 as a monotherapy based on OncoSignature-predicted sensitivity in patients with endometrial cancer. The FDA has granted a Breakthrough Device designation for the ACR-368 OncoSignature assay for the identification of patients with endometrial cancer who may benefit from ACR-368 treatment.
In addition to ACR-368, Acrivon is also leveraging its proprietary Generative Phosphoproteomics AP3 platform for developing its co-crystallography-driven, internally discovered pipeline programs. These include ACR-2316, the company’s second clinical stage asset, a novel, potent, selective WEE1/PKMYT1 inhibitor designed for superior single-agent activity through strong activation of not only CDK1 and CDK2, but also of PLK1 to drive pro-apoptotic cell death, as observed in preclinical studies against benchmark inhibitors. The Phase 1 trial of ACR-2316 is advancing, with weekly dosing regimens established. Initial data has shown a favorable tolerability profile limited to transient, mechanism-based hematological adverse events, predominantly neutropenia and initial clinical activity across AP3-selected solid tumor types, including PRs in endometrial cancer, as well as SCLC and sqNSCLC, two tumor types which have not shown sensitivity to other clinical WEE1 or PKMYT1 inhibitors currently in development. In addition, the company is advancing ACR-6840, an internally discovered development candidate targeting CDK11.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes certain disclosures that contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 about us and our industry that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release, including statements regarding our preclinical and clinical results, business strategy and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “contemplate,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “target,” “will,” or “would” or the negative of these words or other similar terms or expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on Acrivon’s current expectations and are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties that are described more fully in the section titled “Risk Factors” in our reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of this date, and Acrivon undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law.
Investor and Media Contacts:
Adam D. Levy, Ph.D., M.B.A.
alevy@acrivon.com
Alexandra Santos
asantos@wheelhouselsa.com
