Cobra agrees oncology deal with BioCancell
pharmafile | March 4, 2014 | News story | Manufacturing and Production, Research and Development | BC-821, Cobra, biocancell, oncology
Contract manufacturing organisation Cobra Biologics has signed a deal with specialist oncology biopharma firm BioCancell to manufacture an investigational cancer drug.
BioCancell’s BC-821 is scheduled to start a Phase I clinicial trial in 2015, following pre-clinical studies in oncology indications such as non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), ovarian cancer, glioblastoma and liver metastasis.
BC-821 targets the H19 and P4-IGF2 transcription factors which are expressed only in cancerous cells: its mode of action is to penetrate these calls and activate the synthesis of DTA under the control of the H19 and/or P4 promoter of the target gene IGF2.
This should have the potential to reach a large patient population, given that people expressing either of the target genes will be treatable.
BioCancell, co-founded in 2004 by Avraham Hochberg, professor of molecular biology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, filed an international patent application for BC-821 in 2008.
Under the terms of the new deal, for which no financial details were disclosed, Cobra will provide GMP manufacture of BC-821 plasmid DNA, filling and finishing the product for release to the trial programme.
“Cobra has been manufacturing plasmid therapeutics and DNA vaccines for more than 16 years and I am delighted that we are able to announce this partnership with BioCancell,” said the company’s chief executive, Peter Coleman.
“Our DNA platform process is based on Cobra’s pioneering heritage in gene therapy manufacturing and technology development,” he added.
BioCancell’s targeted approach seeks genes such as H19, which appear in cancerous tumours rather than healthy cells, and works on their regulatory sequences for the activation of a toxin inside only the non-healthy cells.
The company’s leading candidate, BC-819, has completed a Phase IIb trial for bladder cancer.
Cobra’s work for pharma covers antibodies, recombinant proteins, viruses, phage, DNA, whole cell vaccines and therapeutics as well as biologics and small molecule API lyophilisation.
Adam Hill
Related Content
BMS’ Opdivo/Yervoy combination accepted by Scottish Medicines Consortium for colorectal cancer
Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) has announced that its Opdivo (nivolumab) has been accepted, in combination …
Astellas Pharma’s Vyloy accepted by Scottish Medicines Consortium for gastric cancer
Astellas Pharma, a pharmaceutical company creating medicines to address unmet medical needs, has announced that …
Rethinking oncology trial endpoints with generalised pairwise comparisons
For decades, oncology trials have been anchored to a familiar set of endpoints. Overall survival …
