AstraZeneca signs cancer drug discovery collaboration
pharmafile | June 30, 2011 | News story | Research and Development | AstraZeneca, PTC Therapeutics
AstraZeneca has signed a deal with PTC Therapeutics to use the company’s proprietary drug discovery platform to discover new cancer treatments.
New Jersey-based PTC is focused on the discovery and development of oral, small-molecule drugs that target post-transcriptional control processes. These regulate the rate and timing of protein production and are of central importance to proper cellular function.
PTC has its own pipeline of drugs (including drugs for rare genetic disorders, oncology and infectious diseases) but also licenses out its proprietary GEMS technology, which identifies small molecules that modulate post-transcriptional control mechanisms.
Compounds identified through the GEMS technology target processes that act through the regulatory regions of messenger RNA molecules.
The most advanced compound identified through the GEMS technology is PTC299, a small-molecule inhibitor of VEGF expression currently in multiple oncology clinical trials.
AstraZeneca will make an undisclosed up-front cash payment for the initiation of the first target in its collaboration plus committed research funding to PTC. Initial efforts will be focused on oncology, with an opportunity to pursue up to eight targets across different therapeutic areas.
PTC will also qualify for significant future milestone payments depending on the achievement of research, development, regulatory and commercial milestones. AstraZeneca retains the global marketing rights and PTC has an option to participate in the development of select product candidates emerging from the collaboration. AstraZeneca will pay PTC tiered royalties on worldwide net sales.
“We are delighted to enter into this collaboration with PTC Therapeutics. PTC’s RNA biology expertise and the uniqueness of the GEMS technology are complementary to our internal efforts,” said Dr Susan Galbraith, vice president and head of the oncology innovative medicines research unit at AstraZeneca. “We believe that the GEMS technology will enable AstraZeneca to address important disease mechanisms that were intractable with our existing approaches.”
“We are honoured to enter into this partnership with AstraZeneca,” said Stuart Peltz, president and chief executive of PTC Therapeutics. “AstraZeneca is widely recognised for its high scientific standards and track record in developing novel therapies for the world’s most serious illnesses.”
PTC already has alliances with companies such as Celgene, Genzyme, Merck, Pfizer and Roche.
Andrew McConaghie
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