What Blacksmith Medicines does

Blacksmith Medicines is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that develops first-in-class small molecule inhibitors of metal-dependent enzymes (metalloenzymes). The company is headquartered in San Diego, California, with 11-50 employees, and was formed in January 2023 through the merger of Blacksmith Medicines and Forge Therapeutics. It targets metalloenzyme classes historically considered undruggable due to the poor drug-like properties of earlier chemotypes (hydroxamic acid, hydroxyurea). Its internal pipeline comprises three programs: an LpxC antibiotic program (lead candidate FG-2101 with FDA Qualified Infectious Disease Product and Fast Track Designation, plus FG-960 in earlier development) targeting multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections; an FEN1 oncology program (BSM-1516) exploiting synthetic lethality in Homologous Recombination-deficient tumors; and a QPCTL cancer immunotherapy program modulating CD47.

The company's core technology is the BLACKSMITH Platform, a purpose-built drug discovery engine that combines a focused fragment library of proprietary metal-binding pharmacophores (MBPs), a comprehensive metalloenzyme genome database, a first-of-its-kind metallo-CRISPR target validation library, and bio-inorganic-informed computational modeling/docking. Patents on proprietary non-hydroxamate LpxC scaffolds and non-hydroxyurea FEN1 scaffolds have been granted in the United States and allowed in Europe, with corresponding filings in China and Japan. Co-founder Seth Cohen, a UCSD professor and metalloenzyme chemist, anchors the science; co-founder David Puerta leads discovery as COO/VP; CEO Zachary Zimmerman leads business operations.

Blacksmith is pre-revenue and monetizes through a mix of non-dilutive government grants (NIAID, CARB-X), enterprise pharma partnership payments and milestone-eligible collaborations (Roche up to $190.5M, Basilea multi-target agreement, Evotec strategic alliance, Zoetis, Active Motif), and expected future product revenue from approved therapeutics. Go-to-market is enterprise field sales executed through pharma co-development partnerships and government contracts rather than direct physician sales, consistent with a clinical-stage licensing-and-platform model.

Name

Blacksmith Medicines

Legal name

Blacksmith Medicines

Website

https://blacksmithmedicines.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Blacksmith Medicines is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class small molecule inhibitors of metalloenzymes for serious Gram-negative bacterial infections, DNA-damage-repair-dependent cancers, and CD47-targeted cancer immunotherapy, leveraging its proprietary BLACKSMITH chemistry platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Diego

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Non-dilutive Government Funding: Grants and contracts from government agencies (NIAID, CARB-X) to support clinical development of antibiotic candidates
2. Pharmaceutical Partnership Payments: Potential milestone payments and royalties from pharmaceutical partnerships (Roche collaboration valued up to $190.5M total)
3. Future Product Revenue: Revenue from approved antibiotic and oncology products, once clinical development is completed and regulatory approvals obtained

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Blacksmith Medicines is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that discovers and develops small molecule inhibitors of metal-dependent enzymes (metalloenzymes) for the treatment of serious infectious diseases and cancer. Its lead programs target LpxC for multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections and FEN1 for oncology, built on a proprietary BLACKSMITH chemistry platform.

Product overview

Blacksmith Medicines is a biopharma company that has developed a purpose-built platform focused on the discovery and development of small molecule inhibitors of metal-dependent enzymes (metalloenzymes). The company's BLACKSMITH Platform comprises a focused fragment library of proprietary metal-binding pharmacophores (MBPs), comprehensive metalloenzyme genome database, first-of-its-kind metallo-CRISPR library, and computational modelling capabilities. The company leverages these technologies across three main programs: the LpxC antibiotic program (lead product FG-2101, with FG-960 in development), the FEN1 oncology program (BSM-1516), and the QPCTL cancer immunotherapy program. The company merged with Forge Therapeutics in 2023 and maintains strategic partnerships with Evotec AG, Roche, Basilea, and Zoetis, with funding support from NIAID and CARB-X.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• BLACKSMITH Platform Purpose-built drug discovery platform focused on small molecule inhibitors of metalloenzymes, integrating proprietary metal-binding pharmacophores, comprehensive metalloenzyme database, metallo-CRISPR library, and computational modeling for fragment-based drug discovery and structure-based drug design.
• FG-2101

Quantifiable outcome

• Effective killing of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria including ESBL and CRE strains where other antibiotics are ineffective
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• RochecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 March 2020Collaboration to develop novel antibiotic to treat lung infections. Forge eligible to receive up to $190.5M in total payments including upfront, development, regulatory, and sales milestones plus royalties.
• Basilea PharmaceuticamajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 24 April 2019Multi-target agreement to discover and develop novel antibiotics targeting difficult-to-drug bacterial pathogens.
• Evotec AGcoreTechnology or Integration · 9 December 2016Strategic 'Superbug' Alliance combining innovative chemistry efforts with cutting edge anti-infective drug discovery platform. Expanded in 2017 to launch BLACKSMITH Platform for discovering novel metalloenzyme inhibitors across broad therapeutic areas.
• Active MotifminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 March 2016Collaboration on epigenetic research and drug discovery targeting Jumonji KDMs.
• UCSD (University of California, San Diego)coreTechnology or IntegrationIn-licensed technology from UCSD. Co-founder Seth Cohen is Professor and former Chair of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCSD. Technology licensed includes metalloenzyme expertise and intellectual property.
• University of Wisconsin (David Andes, Ph.D.)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic collaborator presenting preclinical data on FG-2101 at IMARI conference. Partnership for academic research and data generation.
• ZoetisminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnimal health company partner listed on company website as partner.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• 858 Therapeutics: Early-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing small molecule inhibitors targeting RNA-modifying enzymes and metalloenzymes for cancer treatment. Emerging player with thematic overlap on metalloenzyme drug discovery platforms targeting oncology.

Direct peers

• Spero Therapeutics: Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on identifying, developing, and commercializing novel treatments for MDR bacterial infections, including Gram-negative pathogens. Direct peer in the antibacterial development space.
• Cidara Therapeutics: Clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel anti-infectives, including antivirals and antibacterial conjugates. Comparable in clinical-stage anti-infective development with novel mechanism focus.
• Paratek Pharmaceuticals: Commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing antibiotics including Nuzyra for serious community-acquired infections. Comparable antibiotic pipeline focus.
• Iterum Therapeutics: Clinical-stage pharmaceutical company developing antibiotics against multi-drug resistant pathogens, including oral and IV antibiotics for Gram-negative infections. Comparable target indication and regulatory strategy.
• Entasis Therapeutics: Clinical-stage company developing differentiated antibiotics for multidrug-resistant Gram-negative infections (acquired by Innoviva). Direct peer with focus on serious bacterial infections and similar regulatory pathway via QIDP designations.
• VenatoRx Pharmaceuticals: Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing antibiotics targeting Gram-negative bacterial infections, including LpxC inhibitors and beta-lactamase inhibitors. Direct competitor to Blacksmith in the antibacterial space with similar mechanism focus.
• Melinta Therapeutics: Commercial-stage company developing and commercializing antibiotics for acute care settings, including treatments for Gram-negative infections. Comparable focus on serious bacterial infections though broader portfolio.

Broad incumbents

• Pfizer: Global pharmaceutical major with significant antibacterial franchise and active programs in MDR infections, plus oncology platform. As a broader incumbent, Pfizer represents both potential acquirer and competitive benchmark for Blacksmith's commercial outlook.
• Summit Therapeutics: Clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing antibiotics (ridinilazole for C. difficile) and oncology therapeutics. Broader infectious disease and oncology portfolio provides comparison for Blacksmith's dual-indication strategy.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/ForgeThera

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A1 record

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Blacksmith Medicines