Boehringer will help develop Aveo’s lung cancer candidate
pharmafile | December 2, 2011 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |
Boehringer Ingelheim has agreed to help oncology specialist firm Aveo develop its lung cancer treatment ficlatuzumab.
The agreement is for Boehringer to undertake the large-scale process development and clinical manufacturing of ficlatuzumab, Aveo’s novel anti-HGF antibody that is currently in Phase II clinical development for non-small cell lung cancer.
Boehringer said it would produce ficlatuzumab for clinical trials at its US biopharmaceutical site in Fremont.
Under the deal Aveo will retain all rights to the development and commercialisation of ficlatuzumab; financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Elan Ezickson, executive VP at Aveo, said: “This agreement is further evidence of the progress we are making in the clinical development of ficlatuzumab, and we look forward to working with Boehringer Ingelheim to prepare for the manufacturing activities for ficlatuzumab that would support Phase III and beyond.”
Frank Ternes, senior VP of the contract manufacturing business biopharmaceuticals at Boehringer, said: “We are delighted to be chosen by Aveo as a manufacturing partner for ficlatuzumab and we look forward to leveraging our more than 25 years of expertise in this area to support Aveo in further executing its clinical development strategies for ficlatuzumab.
“This customer project is an important milestone for our Fremont site and a further confirmation that our expansion into the US is of added value for our customers,” he added.
The HGF/c-MET pathway is believed to play an important role in regulating tumour growth, invasion and metastasis, making it a novel target in oncology.
Following successful completion of earlier clinical trials, Aveo initiated a Phase Ib/II clinical trial evaluating ficlatuzumab in combination with AstraZeneca’s Iressa (gefitinib) versus Iressa monotherapy as first-line therapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer.
Top-line data from the ongoing Phase II portion of the trial are expected in 2012.
Boehringer already has several of its own lung cancer drugs underdoing clinical trials, including BIBW 2992, which irreversibly inhibits the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR/HER1) and human epidermal receptor 2 (HER2) tyrosine kinases.
It is currently in Phase III studies and is also being investigated for cancers of the head and neck.
Ben Adams
