Bayer signs cancer stem cell research deal
pharmafile | June 18, 2010 | News story | Research and Development | Bayer Schering Pharma, Cancer, OncoMed, Stem cells
Bayer Schering Pharma has teamed up with a US oncology specialist to develop novel antibodies, protein therapeutics and small molecules targeting cancer stem cells.
These cells are thought to drive the growth, recurrence and spread of tumours and the global alliance with OncoMed Pharmaceuticals will aim to find, develop and sell therapeutics targeting the Wnt signalling pathway.
This is one of several pathways that California biotech OncoMed thinks are important in halting cancer stem cell activity.
Such products, if found, could work across many tumours and Bayer has the option of exclusively licencing antibody and protein therapeutic product candidates up to the end of phase I testing.
“We recognise the high unmet medical need for cancer treatments,” said Andreas Busch, Bayer’s head of global drug discovery.
“Anti-cancer stem cell research could turn out as one of the missing pieces in today’s cancer therapy.”
The collaboration could include as many as five compounds, and the manufacturer will pay $40 million up front, along with the usual milestone payments.
OncoMed could then get up to $387m for biotherapeutic drugs and another $112m per programme for small molecule drugs.
The company will also be eligible to receive double-digit royalties on net product sales and can co-develop biologic therapeutics with Bayer.
Preclinical studies of monoclonal antibody drug candidates targeting Wnt signalling have revealed wide-ranging anti-tumour and anti-cancer stem cell activity in a number of solid tumour types, said OncoMed.
“Our alliance with Bayer represents a major opportunity to discover and develop an entirely new class of anti-cancer stem cell therapeutics with one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the world,” said OncoMed chief executive Paul Hastings.
“OncoMed has established a rich pipeline of product candidates targeting a number of critical cancer stem cell pathways.”
One of these, OncoMed’s lead Wnt pathway antibody, OMP-18R5, is intended to enter clinical testing next year and is included in the Bayer deal.
Adam Hill
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