GSK boosts portfolio in cancer and anti-infectives
pharmafile | December 14, 2007 | News story | Research and Development |Â Â Â
GSK has secured two new early-stage biotech licensing deals to boost its product pipeline.
The UK-based group unveiled one partnership with OncoMed Pharmaceuticals to develop a treatment that targets cancer stem cells, and another with Galapagos to develop novel antibacterials and antivirals.
The partnership with Oncomed will allow GSK to licence four products directed at cancer stem cells believed to play a key role in the establishment, spread and recurrence of cancer.
The list of new products includes the California biotech's monoclonal antibody OMP-21M18, which is scheduled to enter the clinic in 2008.
The companies regard this drug as the most promising, and expect its technology could later be applied to multiple cancer indications.
OncoMed chief executive Paul J Hastings said: "This strategic alliance provides important validation of our scientific expertise in the field of cancer stem cell research and drug development."
Meanwhile in its collaboration with the Belgium-based Galapagos GSK will contribute upfront fees, development and regulatory milestone payments towards the development of six potential products.
These will utilise the natural product compound collection and chemistry capabilities of BioFocus DPI, Galapagos' services division, which bases its work on bacterial and fungal sources.
The two companies have worked together before on the development of products for osteoarthritis, and are confident of productivity in the alliance.
Zhi Hong, head of GSK's Infectious Diseases Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery, said: "We recognise the significant unmet medical needs in hospital or community-acquired bacterial infections plus life-threatening viral diseases.
"It is therefore prudent to explore novel chemical space and targets that offer new prospects for treatments across a range of infectious diseases."
Big pharma/small biotech partnership
Partnering between large pharma companies and small biotech firms is a well-established trend in the industry, as big pharma is sometimes regarded as too large to be truly innovative.
At the recent Financial Times annual conference for pharma and biotech Dr Louise Makin, chief executive of biotech firm BTG, explained how big pharma continues to enlist biotech firms to boost flagging pipelines, and how the industry is increasingly reliant on these deals.
When asked whether the volume of such collaborations in the industry had made partners more adept at working together, she said: "The lessons are well known, and we learn with experience. But there is a difference between knowing a lesson and executing it."
Dr Makin stressed the importance of nurturing partnerships in the present climate, where a difference in company culture can easily lead to clashes, and a 'one-size fits all' approach does not work.
She added: "Needs are greater now, prizes are bigger, and stakes are higher. There is nothing as fragile as a partnership."
