Merck to co-develop novel prostate cancer candidate
pharmafile | October 18, 2005 | News story | Research and Development |Â Â Â
Merck is to develop a new monoclonal antibody which has shown promise in treating prostate cancer.
The US company has signed a deal to co-develop and co-market the molecule AGS-PSCA with Agensys, the Californian cancer biotech company which discovered it.
The drug is a fully human monoclonal antibody and targets Prostate Stem Cell Antigen (PSCA), which is expressed in most prostate, pancreatic and bladder cancers.
Pre-clinical studies using human cells from these cancers implanted into mice found AGS-PSCA blocked the growth and spread of cancer to other organs.
There is currently no 'next generation' monoclonal antibody drugs for prostate cancer available to patients, although Genentech is now commencing phase III trials of Avastin for the condition.
Another California-based biotech company Cell Genesys is developing its vaccine GVAX for prostate cancer, also currently in phase III development.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, with over 30,100 new cases every year. Cancer Research UK says the lifetime risk for being diagnosed with prostate cancer is 1 in 14.






